Earthquake
by dooder's nin
Summary: At another meeting, things are literally groundbreaking as an earthquake unexpectedly shakes things up for everyone, leaving nine still trapped inside. The unlikely grouping have to work as effectively with one another as quickly as they can before more tremors occur, while those who did make it out of the crumbling building search from above.


The building for the next meeting was set in a bustling segment of Japan's home, the Asian nation having spent several months preparing for his turn to host. As usual, he approached the task with a sense of responsibility, calmness and a small amount of glee that he'd never outwardly show at the chance to demonstrate to his fellow countries his own culture again. However, such plans were slightly hampered by the sudden and unexpected appearance of a certain American at his door with his usual wide smile and a couple of suitcases. As the gracious host, he felt obligated to let the other personification spend the next couple of days before the meeting with him at his house, but had given a little sigh at the minimal amount of progress that he'd likely have with company. But Alfred hadn't been too hard on him with his usual pleas for more games to be played with him or to go exploring.

Kiku had spent an entire afternoon in peaceful quiet to finalize details, especially since there had recently been a few tremors that weren't all that uncommon for the area. But he should have known that the only reason for such quiet was because his friend had inevitably gotten himself lost. He'd answered quite a confusing phone call from Alfred that sounded like he'd ended up at some marketplace on the other side of town and was being pursued by some vendor that sounded suspiciously like China. Kiku had spent the next couple of hours trying to find Alfred, only to get a flat tire and need to pull over. He'd been hastily trying to fix that dilemma in time to reach his friend before any more damage was done. His head had been down as he concentrated on the jack, when suddenly the car's back end was already up in the air and a soaking wet Alfred was laughing down at him for his 'heroic timing'. He'd continued to laugh through his explanation of deciding to skip that part of town and all of its knockoffs of his stuff that he was sure he'd seen China selling at that marketplace. Instead he'd reached the lake as one point of reference that he could remember and swam to where he thought he remembered the road with the flowering trees that led to Kiku's house. He'd only climbed out not that long ago when he'd run across his friend in need of a hand. The task had been accomplished much easier with Alfred's help and they were back at Kiku's house in no time, Alfred already heading into the kitchen with the suggestion of helping make dinner.

With those adventures already behind him, Kiku had felt relieved when it was time to get to the conference. Alfred had whined about getting there so early, arguing the meetings couldn't really begin without him there anyway, but he couldn't argue against the fact that it would look bad for the host country if Japan were to arrive late. Plus, Kiku had thought of threatening Alfred with finding his own way to the conference, but thought better of it after realizing the American personification would take him up on that for some more sleep and probably end up on a different island for all he knew. But they were there now, with only a half hour before the conference was set to begin. Kiku had to take a moment to calm his thoughts as he went through his papers.

"Someone looks a little more stressed than normal." He heard a British voice say, looking up to find Arthur approaching him, tea cup in hand like usual when he arrives early enough to pour himself a cup from provided trays. "What might have caused this? Surely the tremors here didn't affect you too badly?" Arthur asked as he stood opposite the desk where Kiku was sitting.

"No. Thank you for your concern Britain-san. My uneasiness is more of a concern with a certain…unexpected guest." Kiku said, trying to sound diplomatic enough that Arthur would not immediately call out Alfred. He could be difficult at times, but Alfred was a good friend and had opened his home to Kiku in an attempt for them to learn more about one another – even if there were awkward moments for him caused by said personification.

"Ah, yes…Alfred does enjoy finding ways to mix business and pleasure. I find it enjoyable as well, but there's a time and a place. He never seems to know the right time but always seems to find the right place no matter what I try." Arthur said with a bit of humor on his face. "I'm sure you handled his antics well enough since he's here on time." He said, not noticing when Alfred walked up behind him.

"Iggy!" Alfred shouted, causing Arthur to jump and nearly spill all his tea. Arthur grumbled as Alfred laughed at getting in a sneak surprise on the other, the British man wiping the tea he'd spilled onto his sleeve.

"You are such a child Alfred. Look what you did." Arthur said, putting down the cup and showing the mess that Alfred had played a part in creating.

"Wasn't me. Serves ya' right though for talking 'bout me behind my back." Alfred said with a teasing smirk as Arthur's eyes widened a fraction at realizing Alfred had been paying attention. "I'm always on time…" Alfred said with a beaming smile that Arthur returned with a skeptical look. "Er…almost always on time. Hey, I show up, that's what's important. You guys have nothing to keep things going without my ideas anyway." Alfred said with a wave of his hand, not noticing how he was beginning to irritate the British personification to the point of having Arthur wring his neck like usual. "But since you're here, does that mean France or Canada's here?" Alfred asked, looking around as he leaned against Kiku's desk, making the Asian nation a little wary about his things should Alfred not be careful.

"Wha…How should I know?" Arthur said, picking up his teacup and taking a sip to avoid outright scuffling with the other man. "I try to make a point to only observe from a healthy distance whatever Francis is doing. And…um…Canada's…um…" Arthur was saying, trailing off as he tried to remember what he could about the other personification.

"Don't get so upset!" Alfred said with a laugh at Arthur's predictable reaction to the mention of Francis. "I'm only curious. Sheesh, you're gonna be givin' yourself those hallucinations with all that stress. You still haven't seen a doctor about that, have you? I've told you…" Alfred started to say with genuine sincerity in his voice, but that seemed to only irritate Arthur further.

"I do not need…to see…a psychiatrist. They are _not_ hallucinations." Arthur replied, grabbing Alfred's collar of his bomber jacket and shaking him with each pause in his shouting. Alfred was laughing like usual as he easily removed Arthur's hands.

"Then maybe you should go for anger management issues. You call me a child and then you try to strangle me? That could be child abuse right there in some countries." Alfred said with a smirk, although Arthur knew that the other man might bring this up again in some out-there idea of his. He'd said something similar to him when he had been wrestling with a miniature Francis that one April Fools when he'd been overly eager to turn the other into the 'chibi version' he'd talked about. "But seriously, have you seen either of them? Canada usually brings donuts or something to these things and he's a good sport about sharing." Alfred said, fixing the collar of his jacket from Arthur's roughing it up.

"But America-san…" Kiku began, adhering to formality in this setting despite Alfred insistence otherwise, "…We stopped for breakfast on the way here. You even ordered extra. How could you have…" Kiku made to ask but Arthur scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"The eating machine is never sated, are you Alfred?" Arthur teasingly asked the younger nation, Alfred only shrugging in response.

"Hey, the portion sizes here are ridiculously small. I needed those extra orders just to make one meal size back home. I'm starving still." Alfred said, his face lighting up at he spotted something. He patted Arthur 'gently' on the shoulder with a 'see ya' later, bro' before taking off in search of someone to share their snack with him.

"Anyway…" Arthur said, returning to his now cold tea. "The git means well I suppose. And it's a good thing you didn't just toss him back out onto the street. You can only ignore him for so long." He said, gaining Kiku's interest.

"Is that what you did the last time he showed up a few days before the conference, Britain-san?" Kiku asked, finding it a bit odd that the gentleman would turn out visitors rather than be hospitable. But then again, things were different for Arthur when he's dealing with Alfred.

Arthur nodded his head and made a noise in agreement as he drank his tea. "Yes, a few times. He doesn't always do that, procrastinating to the point of arriving at the airport an hour before the conference. " He said, Kiku nodding as he recalled an embarrassingly mortifying experience when he'd given in against better judgement and spent the night with Alfred to watch movies and play games in his hotel room. The two of them had barely made it to the conference room on time, out of breath as Kiku at least apologized to his brother China who'd been hosting.

"But the longer you ignore him, the more his curiosity gets to him and he wanders off. Or worse, into your things you may leave lying around 'unguarded'." Arthur said with quotes, his face taking on an amused expression. "One time I left the bloody fool to himself for too long- possibly forgetting he was still trying to get my attention-but that is neither here nor there…" Arthur said with a slightly sheepish look. "…I'd left to meet with a few officials and the git knocks on the glass window of the meeting room to get my attention. I turn around and find that the twit has _carried_ my old Rolls Royce all the way from my house miles away, solely to ask me for permission to borrow it for a little while." Arthur said, Kiku finding himself smirking a little in amusement at the story. "I was so stunned at seeing him do such a thing for the _second_ time, and especially by the fact he felt the need to actually ask for permission, I agreed without really realizing it. But I suppose the way his face lit up was worth the small dent in the bumper…" He said, head cocked to the side in remembrance. Looking over to the seat the American had taken, the two saw him sitting with a look-alike, belatedly recalling that as Canada. The two were munching on something in a box the Canadian personification had brought, a wide smile on America's face that Canada returned with a smaller, shier one of his own.

"But now I am just as guilty as our American friend of taking up your time, Japan." Arthur said with a nod of his head to Kiku. "So I shall wait to finish our conversation later." He said, the Asian nation gratefully thanking the man and returning to his notes once more before he officially began the meeting. He heard the British man berating Alfred once more for something before he felt the seat next to him be taken. He looked up to see China smiling back at him, Kiku retuning the look with his typical stoic expression.

"Good morning little brother." China said, not listening to Kiku's usual comment for the other not to address him as such in these sorts of forums. "I thought I should let you know Japan-aru, that America was wandering around some of your marketplaces." He said, Kiku shifting a little to talk to him.

"Thank you for the information, but he is my guest at the moment. He simply got lost again." Kiku said as succinctly as he could. "How is it that you would know of this, China-san?" He asked, the other man's shock showing up on his face and he immediately sent a wide smile to his little brother. "Ah, well, it is my duty as the wise older brother to keep a watch on you." China said, Kiku continuing to look blankly at him for a moment before returning to his notes. "But I have several new items I would like to show you later if you are free?" China continued, Kiku giving a nod of his head in agreement. He knew that his brother had likely been scoping out the next best 'cute' thing from his brother's merchandise, but there were other things to get to.

With that in mind, Kiku opened the meeting, quickly losing control of managing order in the room to Ludwig with how Alfred ended up hitting Ivan in the face with a paper football he'd made and had convinced his twin to hold up his hands to act as a goal. He'd been way off and had flicked the paper across the room in front of Turkey while the man had been speaking and had bopped the imposing Russian personification. Alfred's face had been one of surprise before he burst out laughing like usual, Arthur trying to cuff him on the head as the other leaned back in his chair. Several nations had braced for Ivan's reaction but it was Belarus who beat him to it as she leapt over the desk to race toward Alfred, the American's laughs turning into a frightened shout at having the smaller female nation try to tackle him. But he'd started laughing again as he managed to push her off of him and her knife dropped to the floor. She'd quickly picked it up and turned to resume her attack only to find Alfred had drawn his gun.

"Bringin' a knife to a gunfight." Alfred had laughed as he cocked the gun. "That's so 80s– y'know, 1880s. _Wild Wild West_." Alfred said, Canada trying to calm his brother down as he heard his accent change.

"How dare you draw gun on my sister." Ivan said, finally getting up from his seat to walk over to Natalya. "You want to bully other nations, da? Be just like old times?" He asked with his usual calm face, but his eyes had a glint to them.

Arthur could be seen shaking his head at how often these two seemed to end up butting heads, sometimes literally. The Cold War was supposed to be over but there were times when it seemed one of the two would do something that would cause the other to forget about that supposed 'end' to that period between them.

"Dude, your crazy sis pulled the knife out first. This is only a defense and to let her know I ain't a pushover." Alfred said as he waved his gun around, making some nations duck. Prussia looked more interested now from where he sat nearby his brother's seat, even though he'd been told repeatedly that he technically wasn't obligated to arrive to these meetings anymore. Switzerland looked concerned too, his steely gaze shifting between the conflict and his sister who had made the decision to sit beside one of the other smaller nations and had ended up closer to the oncoming brawl than he would have liked.

"Supposed to be equal footing in here, right? If she's able to pull her knife, I can show off my gun." Alfred said, Kiku hesitantly mumbling that no weapons should have been brought to the meeting anyway, although everyone knew that Ivan always seemed to have his pipe just as Alfred always had his gun and Belarus her knives. "Oh, come on. I know I can handle this, and 'The right to bear arms' is a very important…" He was saying before Arthur audibly sighed.

"Yes, yes, America, we all know how much you value your documents. But in case you haven't noticed, there are some nations here who don't need a lesson in them again, thank you." Arthur said irritably, Alfred looking to argue some more before sighing and putting his gun away with a tight smile and holding up his hands for peace. "Good show, lad." Arthur whispered to him as he sat back down, the situation looking to be diffused as Belarus stormed back to her seat. Alfred merely huffed as he looked at Arthur before turning around to face the center of the presentation area only to be met with a notebook to the face.

"Ugh! Ow!" Alfred said, grabbing the notebook to fling across the room with enough force for the thing to break apart and papers to fly all over the room. "What the hell, man?!" He shouted to Ivan as the other nation stood there facing him.

"You hit me in face with paper, I returned the gesture." Ivan said with a far too cheery smile on his face, the situation causing Arthur to snicker despite the possibility of the two getting into another of their brawls.

"I hit you on accident, man. And with a piece of paper this big." Alfred said, pinching his fingers together to indicate the size. "This was a heavy notebook. Not the same thing." Alfred huffed, readjusting his glasses.

"Ah, well, I thought you might be in need of more paper after losing that piece. Oh well." Ivan said as he smiled again at Alfred rubbing his nose. "I will be sitting down again." He said by way of ending the conversation.

"Yeah, yeah…" Alfred said. "Damn commie bastard." He muttered, Ivan turning back around. He cocked his head a little to the side as he looked to Alfred. "I am not communist anymore Amerika. You should know this." He said as though playfully scolding him.

"Uh, right…." Alfred said slowly. "None of that's leftover, huh?" Alfred said, reaching over to his brother's box and taking out one of the few remaining donut holes. He looked ready to say something else but at Arthur's look of practiced silent reprimand for talking with his mouth full, he shrugged and focused on eating. Ivan chuckled his typical laugh that made the Baltic nations shift a little uneasily in their seats before returning to his seat. Turkey looked back and forth across the room to see if the two were done before he cleared his throat to begin talking again.

"Are you still not done?" A sleepy voice from the corner of the room asked, Turkey scowling at the comment made by Greece. "I fell asleep from the moment you started talking and you're still up there. What are you going on about now?" Greece asked, Turkey launching into an argument as usual now that the napping nation had been woken up by the issue with America and Russia. Kiku hung his head as that seemed to be the signal for old arguments to take over, America laughing about something to Russia from across the room while Britain squabbled with France over something that had them both standing up from their seats. Different nations decided that would be a good time to rearrange themselves, effectively creating a break between talks for the moment.

"Enough!" Germany shouted once he'd had enough, his brother laughing in the corner where he'd gotten a front row seat to some of the more spectacular squabbles. "This is getting nobody anywhere. We are here for a purpose and it is time to get back to it, so everyone shut up and listen to what I am saying to you. Enough is enough and you can all beat each other apart during the break. Sit down!" He shouted, his voice reverberating through the room like usual when he'd lost his patience with the disorder.

"Whoa….Germany's made the whole room shake. Ha ha ha!" Alfred said as the floor shook a little, Kiku's eyes going wide as he realized that it wasn't his fellow nation who had caused the disturbance.

"Everyone to outside! It is an earthquake!" Kiku shouted louder than most nations had ever heard him speak, startling everyone more than when Germany had intervened. As if on cue, the ground began to violently shake and nations gasped as they were thrown off balance. Personifications began to go where Kiku was directing them, moving quickly until the force of the shaking knocked them to their feet as it increased. Cracking could be heard as the building was clearly not up to code for earthquakes despite what Kiku had believed, the Asian man urging the nations to hurry. He watched as the ceiling began to collapse and building material started to crumble, bracing for it to fall when he heard someone grunt from behind him. Opening his eyes, he saw Alfred holding up the ceiling over the doorway, allowing it to remain open for more personifications to get outside.

"H-Hey, Kiku…" Alfred struggled to get out as he shakily grinned to the other man. "Don't earthquakes suck?" He asked, readjusting his hold a little. Kiku could see Germany doing something similar across the room where more of the building had collapsed, keeping it up while shouting for Feliciano to get up and run outside while he held up the roof with his own enhanced strength. The majority of nations had left, but another heavier shake had more of the building collapsing and knocking back more nations. Alfred grunted as the load became more on him, his super strength apparently not used to holding up entire buildings and Germany looked to be in serious pain. The ceiling was giving way despite Alfred's efforts, a few more personifications making it to the doorway. Poland ran past before looking over his shoulder once another more violent shake occurred, noticing that Lithuania had fallen to the floor and was grasping at his ankle.

"Lithuania!" Poland gasped out, running past Alfred again as he squeezed between the American and the Japanese personification as more nations tried to get out.

"Poland you idiot! Get back outside!" Alfred grunted, watching as more obstacles formed for the remaining nations trapped inside by falling debris. But Poland didn't listen, jumping over a piece of fallen plaster to reach Lithuania and try to pull him to his feet.

"Kiku…I'm losin' it." Alfred warned through gritted teeth as he felt the portion over the doorway he was holding up beginning to crumble from the placement of the weight on it. Kiku nodded as he shouted more urgently for nations to hurry, giving directions to them as he could. Sealand and Lichtenstein were still huddled together under a desk, the frightened girl shouting for her brother who'd been caught up in the rush to get out. Alfred had no doubt he was desperately trying to get back inside, but from where he was he couldn't do more than shout to his Asian friend. Kiku stumbled into the room again to pull the two tiny nations to their feet, almost to the door before Germany's hold gave out and the building began to collapse more quickly.

"China-san…" Kiku called out as he watched his brother, who'd been trying to assist one of the Nordic nations toward the doorway disappear as his vision was blocked by falling debris and overturned desks. He managed to get to the doorway with the two small nations but Lichtenstein's pant leg caught on one of the knocked over chair legs. Francis, who'd still been in the room after having been knocked back, reached over and did something he normally would abhor – he tore the fabric to free the little girl so that Kiku could pick her up and carry her out the doorway. The Frenchman made to do the same with Sealand but a warning shout from Alfred was all they had to brace themselves as the ceiling came down just after Kiku had exited with the small girl. Francis pulled the little boy closer to himself as he found a spot to provide something to brace against the oncoming building collapse, hearing Kiku shouting something in his native language before the rush of the building's walls and ceiling collapsing thundered over everything else.

* * *

Kiku raced out of the building with the crying Lichtenstein, panting as he reached the group of personifications out on the lawn. They were all a little shaken and he too was feeling the dizziness that usually hit him from earthquakes. He set her down on the ground, the girl remaining by his side as she sniffled a few times.

"Lichtenstein!" A Swiss-accented voice shouted, the little girl gasping as she spotted her brother. She ran over to him, arms wide and crushing into him as he reached her and held her tightly. A look to Kiku was the only thing exchanged, but Kiku saw the thanks in the look before the adoptive siblings headed off on their own.

"Kiku!" A British voice drifted over to the Asian nation, Kiku turning to see a blond head of hair heading towards him covered with dust from the crumbling building. Eventually Arthur made his way over to him, breathless as he looked behind him to the half-collapsed building. "Where's Alfred? Francis?" He asked, Kiku giving him an apologetic look.

"The ceiling gave way as I was pulling Lichtenstein out." Kiku said, Arthur bringing his hand to his mouth as he turned back to face the building. It wasn't the only one with same damage, and sirens were heard echoing through the streets. "I know Francis was trying to help Sealand out too but I do not know all that much of what happened after Germany lost his hold on his section of the ceiling." Kiku said, bending over with his hands on his knees to try and abate his dizziness.

"Oh, my apologies Japan." Arthur said, helping the Asian nation to kneel on the ground and rubbing his back soothingly. "Are you doing alright?" He asked, the other nation giving a small 'hai' as he took deep breaths.

"I know China was still inside…" Kiku began to say, Arthur nodding along in sympathy. Yao and Kiku had their issues but they did acknowledge one another as family and he knew that Kiku would be worried. "He was with one of the Nordic countries I think…" He said before gasping and looking back up to Arthur. "Oh, but maybe it was actually Canada-san?" He asked, never quite sure about the other less vocal North American twin. Arthur looked up and urgently scanned the crowd before giving a sigh. "No. I can see Canada off to the side with his polar bear. He'll be heading over in no time to ask about his brother once he's stopped shaking himself." Arthur said, returning to look back at Kiku.

"Poland and Lithuania were also in there but I think that's everyone." Kiku said, taking Arthur's offered hand. "I am sorry Britain-san. I was not aware that this building was not safe." He said, shaking his head at the lingering dizziness as Arthur steadied him. "I know you must be worried with two of your family in there." He said.

"No. Now I never said they were family." Arthur said as he did a double-take at what Kiku said. "Alfred's…a, well, _Alfred_ and Francis seems to be that one annoying constant. I am merely concerned about maintaining an equilibrium." He said, Kiku reading into his words to hear his worry for his little brother and 'frenemy'.

Nothing else was said for a while as the personifications searched for their friends, allies, and family members. Kiku was still off-centered, but it seemed like there was going to be a break in the shaking for a while, although he knew he should get ready for the aftershocks.

"You!" A female voice shouted, Kiku unsure of who was calling to him. He felt a chill overcome him as he saw a very determined blonde heading towards him. "Where is my beloved brother?" She nearly shouted, her hands twitching as though to bring out her blades again.

"What do you mean?" Kiku asked but before Natalya could repeat her question as Kiku back away, he bumped into a stiff, tall body. He turned, coming face-to-chest with Sweden, the other personification looking grumpier than usual.

"My wife? Sealand?" He asked, Kiku feeling dread overtaking him. Arthur had been more understanding despite his own clearly overwhelming worry, but with Russia apparently missing and now so was Finland, Kiku felt like the recovery efforts were going to be more difficult now. He could only imagine what the situation back in the building was going to be like, assuming everyone was alright. He figured Germany might have some injuries but he didn't want to think about how bad it could be for his friend since Alfred had been trapped under the majority of the weight.

"I assure you both that recovery efforts will do everything to find our missing friends and fellow nations." Kiku said, hoping to sound confident and reassuring.

"That is easy for you to be saying. You do not have anyone in there." Ukraine said, tears already running down her face as she clung Estonia and Latvia to her for comfort. The two other nations looked uneasy with how she was holding them to her chest, Latvia squirming to get out of her grip. But the Baltic nations were also clearly worried about Lithuania, letting Ukraine hold onto them.

"China is still in there too Ukraine." Arthur said calmly, coming to Kiku's aid as he stood off to the side, Canada close to his side. That seemed to silence the other Eastern European nation somewhat, but Belarus wasn't satisfied.

"Then he should be acting quicker." She said, huffing and folding her arms over her chest. "I will be there to assist in retrieving my dear Vanya." She said, not leaving room for Kiku to politely decline her offer.

Matthew mumbled something in French-Canadian as he held his bear tightly to him, Kumajirou nuzzling his distressed owner. Arthur sighed as he tried to decipher what he could. "No, Matthew. Heading in with your bear to sniff them out isn't a good idea right now. The building is still crumbling." Arthur said, guessing at most of what his former colony had said.

"Hai. Wait at least another ten minutes and then we can do something if the rescue teams have not yet arrived." Kiku said, knowing sooner was better to try and dig out their buried friends. He figured he could count on the assistance, however uncomfortable it would be, from at least Natalya. Arthur seemed to have been volunteered by Matthew and those two would be aiding him, and Berwald clearly intended to everything he could to get to Tino. However, Kiku also knew that their concern might hinder getting to the other buried nations since they were not always the most cooperative bunch. Already he could see Berwald eying the damage done, muttering something about how his repairs to his own house were nothing compared to this, earning a sigh from Kiku. But as the minutes wore on and the impatience of the default rescue team was rising, Kiku straightened himself out slowly to gain his bearings. He cleared his throat and motioned to the small group, the five of them carefully heading back to the damaged section of the building. He climbed a little further but lost his footing shortly from his dizziness making a brief comeback. But he felt hands steady him, turning around with the intent to thank Arthur but instead being met with Prussia, an anxious-looking Feliciano shifting about behind him. Kiku nodded at the unspoken question to be a part of the rescue team, Romano grumbling as his brother dragged him over to help.

* * *

Clunking from pieces of falling debris still dropping now and then as the building settled from the earthquake were heard from inside the collapsed section. Several groans were also heard echoing throughout.

"Ugh…alright. Sound off. Who's not dead?" Germany's voice echoed as he called out, groaning some more as he tried to pick himself up. He rubbed his shoulder, grimacing in pain as he realized that it had most likely been dislocated when the ceiling fell on him.

"Aiya…" China's voice returned to him, the other nation hissing in pain too. But without any light, Germany had a hard time even telling how close his fellow nation was to him. He stumbled a little before reaching someone.

"Ooh…" Another voice whined, sounding very much unlike the Chinese one that had answered him. "Ah, Mr. Germany. You bumped into me." The voice said, Germany recognizing it as belonging to Finland. He groaned again at the realization that Sweden would likely be blaming him for something if he returned with Finland injured. As intimidating as both nations were, Germany had enough on his schedule with dealing with his own brother and Feliciano, making the added Swedish presence another nuisance.

"Ja, sorry Finland. You injured?" He curtly asked, receiving a negative response from Finland. "Oh, but Mr. China I think is hurt." He said, likely pointing in the direction he last saw the other nation before realizing Germany wouldn't see him. Finland scrambled to pull out his phone, the light illuminating the dark space enough for the two to see each other's faces. Finland shined the light over to his side, illuminating China face down on the ground, but the other man moaned and turned his head to the light.

"Aiya…" China repeated as he tried to get up. "Ugh…my back…" He said, Germany shuffling over to the other nation. He could see that China had gotten a nasty cut on his back from something that had fallen, but he couldn't tell how deep it went. Considering that the other man was moving on his own a little more, Germany figured that China shouldn't be too badly off.

"Whoa…" He heard another voice a little farther away, this one sounding higher pitched and therefore younger. "France, you alright?" He heard the British-sounding voice ask, a deeper French-accented voice responding in the affirmative and telling the boy to be careful where he was moving.

"Alright. That makes China, Finland, France, and…Sealand." Germany listed off before groaning again from his injury. He tried to move some more to get his own phone, but it seemed Finland's phone held up the best. The Fin scanned as much as he could, stopping at seeing two more nations huddled off to the side.

"Lithuania! Poland!" Finland cried out, gaining Poland's brief attention before he turned back to gently trying to wake up Lithuania. The other Eastern European groaned before he blinked open his eyes, Poland sighing in short-lived relief before Lithuania grimaced as the pain from his ankle returned to him.

"What is it Toris?" Poland asked, voice sounding a little panicked as he ran his hands over the other man to search for an injury.

"Ugh…it's my ankle Feliks. I think I've twisted it but I can't move to check to see if it's broken." Lithuania answered, his close friend trying to push the debris off of him as gently as he could.

"Oh no!" Sealand's voice rang out, gaining Finland's attention and he shined his cellphone over towards where he heard his voice. Sealand was franticly digging at something while France asked what he was doing before swearing at apparently bumping into something.

"He is looking for Amerika" Ivan's voice answered from over by Lithuania and Poland, making the two jump. "Amerika was holding up the ceiling. He must be under that pile." Ivan said as he crawled over more to the others.

"Verdammit…" Germany muttered at the realization, Finland keeping the light shining over where Sealand and now France were digging. He clenched his eyes shut as another wave of pain rippled through him from his shoulder.

"Ah, Germany. Your shoulder looks dislocated." Lithuania said, Poland's cellphone out to provide more light in their little bubble. "If you can make it over here, I can..." He started to say but Ivan was closer and before Ludwig processed what was happening, Ivan had roughly handled him and pushed it back into place. He screamed loudly at the unexpected and searing pain that left him gasping.

"Better, da? Good thing I was here for you Germany." Ivan said in a sweet voice, Ludwig only growling as the pain gradually lessened. But then he felt a cold on his shoulder which was oddly soothing, realizing that Ivan must've placed his typically colder hands on his shoulder. "Ugh…danke…" Ludwig mumbled, receiving another cheery response from Ivan. "Not a problem. But I doubt fixing Amerika will be so easy." Ivan said, Sealand giving out a cry as he uncovered Alfred and had begun tugging on him with France's help. They managed to drag him away far enough into the center of their salvaged area. France was leaning over him as he checked on his ally, urging Alfred to wake up. Eventually Alfred groaned before coughing several times.

"Oh man…what hit me?" He asked, slowly lifting his hands up to his head and coughing a few more times. Sealand gave a slight chuckle despite the situation at Alfred's usual flippant response.

"Mr. America, the building did." He answered, Francis running his hands gently over Alfred, the other mumbling he didn't want to play any 'handsy' or 'footsie' games at the moment with the Frenchman before groaning again. "Are you alright?" Sealand asked, Alfred answering with his typically loud voice.

"Absolutely dude. It is dark in here, right?" Alfred asked, Lithuania and Poland having reached him by this point. Sealand answered Alfred, the other giving out a shaky laugh as he thanked the smaller nation for the help while Lithuania looked him over as best he could. Poland hovered nearby Lithuania as the other man worried over his friend, Germany working with Russia and China as best he could to discover where a possible exit might be.

"Don't move yet Mr. America." Lithuania said, ignoring the mumbled 'Alfred' that Alfred reminded the other to call him. "I think you're concussed pretty badly. I suppose that happens when a building falls on you." Lithuania said as he sat back, rubbing his ankle with his hands. Poland immediately was beside him, wrapping an arm around the other's shoulder for comfort. "If it had been anyone else, they would probably have been killed in that accident." Lithuania said.

"Yes. Anyone else." Ivan said, earning a startled yelp from Alfred who needed Francis to hold him down to keep him from trying to twist around to face the Russian personification. "Is a good thing you are so hard-headed, da?" Russian said, Alfred sighing in place of responding.

"Now what do we do?" Finland asked in a timid voice, China sitting next to him and wincing occasionally. "Do you think help is coming?" He asked, shining his phone's light up to the new ceiling that was the product of the earthquake. "What if there's another earthquake?"

"Then we had better be out of here before it happens, Finland-aru" China said, grunting as he crawled over to another spot in their cavern. "But we should definitely be more concerned about the aftershocks. Trust me on this." China said, the Finnish man also understanding. He'd had to deal with troublesome earthquakes too now and then.

"Alfred, mon ami…you should listen to Lithuania." Francis' voice broke them out of their musing as they looked around their hopefully temporary prison. Alfred was on his knees at this point, swaying a little while Sealand tried to encourage him to stay still too.

"Ugh…thanks big guy…" Alfred said to Sealand, "…but I'm alright. Right Toris?" Alfred said, ignoring how the Lithuanian vehemently disagreed. But Alfred was sitting up soon enough, leaning on Francis even though he'd just been trying to push the other man away. "S'just us?" Alfred slurred, coughing a couple more times.

"So far, it seems we are the only ones who got stuck." Finland responded, attempting to keep a more upbeat tone even though he was shaking from his fear. Alfred saw it though and gestured for the frightened nation to come closer. He offered his jacket to him but Finland politely refused, blushing a little as it reminded him of something Sweden would do for him.

"Well, we still need to find a way out." Germany said, taking control again as he cleared his throat. He waited for America to contradict him and insist on one of his ideas as the best, but Alfred was being shoved by Francis to keep from nodding off.

"We can't just dig out. It's, like, way too much on top of us." Poland said, gesturing widely as he spoke. "I mean, it's totally going to collapse again if we move the wrong block of stuff." He said, Germany sighing as he made a valid point.

"What if we go down then?" China suggested, earning several confused faces. "No, it would work. There is sewer system nearby and if we can reach the basement, we can probably find a way into it from there." He said, doing his best to support his idea.

"You want me to break _more_ of the building?" Alfred asked with a confused expression on his face. But then he simply shrugged. "Alright. I can do that." He said, getting back on his knees and lifting his hands as far above his head as he could.

"Non, pas bon!" Francis shouted, grabbing Alfred's arms before he could smash them onto the floor. "Imbecile. You can't aim right now. Let Germany do it or the whole thing will come down on us again." He said, Alfred protesting the doubt of the others. But Francis' hold was enough to get Alfred to pause long enough to question where on the floor he'd even need to start tunneling.

After some scuffling and bickering between Germany and China, America telling them to shut up a few times before Germany started in on pounding through the floor despite the shockwaves it sent up his injured arm. Alfred did manage to contribute once he picked up on Ludwig's pain, Francis letting him go with a grumble to haunt him should he get them all killed since Alfred seemed to be unable to be squashed. A few shakes of the building had the two stronger personifications pausing a few times until they managed to dig their way through with some of the building material acting as stand-in shovels as they shattered the floor with heavy and hard thrusts downward, mindful not to try and shake the building too much as cement blocks and stones bounced around.

"Th-that should do it." Alfred said, he and Ludwig panting a little. Finland did his best to comfort Ludwig, China using the Finn's phone to look into the hole. At his triumphant sounding exclamation, the others breathed a sigh of relief.

"Like, can we get out that way?" Poland asked, his arms still wrapped around Lithuania. China looked back up, wincing at the movement hurting his injured back.

"I believe so. Let's climb down before any aftershocks occur." China said, already starting to lower himself. "I will take this phone and you keep Poland aru's phone up here until we can all get down." He said, grabbing Finland's phone and dropping into the basement before anyone had time to have second thoughts.

"Feliks…I don't think I can do that." Lithuania said to Poland, the other nation tightening his grip. "I…my ankle won't support my weight if I drop down like that. I'd only make it worse and then I won't be able to move at all. It's useless." He said as China called up for the others to follow, confirming that the basement appeared structurally sound enough for them to hide out in should they not have access to the sewer system from the building. It was a public building and maintenance had to be regularly done on it and the surrounding lands, so the Asian nation could only guess that it might have some sort of access. However, he wasn't going to mention the chances that the building might _not_ either to the others until they had gotten out of the completely unsafe area.

"Then I will go first and catch you." Poland said, already getting ready to follow after Sealand was lowered down by Finland and Germany as carefully as they could to an awaiting China. Sealand looked incredibly frightened, but a shaky smile and gentle touch on his arm by Finland had him relaxed enough to let himself slip into the darker room. Poland followed and after some scuffling was heard, another call was heard. "Alright Toris. I'll catch you and China will brace the both of us." He said, Alfred laughing a little at his friend's hesitance.

"Aw c'mon man. He means well and I'm sure he'll catch you." He said, Toris sighing but slowly lowering himself into the hole with the occasional grunt of pain at the movement that jarred his injured ankle. He hissed when he felt someone reaching up and accidentally touching his ankle. "Oh, I'm so sorry Toris!" He heard Feliks exclaim, taking a deep breath and shooting a wary look to Alfred before he dropped himself further. The others could see his hands still holding onto the edge of the tiny hole, a conversation muffled as the two grown personifications struggled with getting Toris down without aggravating his injury. Toris finally let go and the group heard him crying out, but it seemed like he made it down alright.

"You can go next." Ivan said to Tino, the Fin looking up sharply at the Russian's voice. He began to protest but Ivan held up the phone he'd grabbed when Poland had dashed to the hole to be able to take care of Lithuania, possibly forgetting about the silent Russian man's presence in his worry. Germany patted Finland on the back and the man only made a whimpering noise before lowering himself into the hole. Francis followed, urging Ludwig not to assist him while muttering about how filthy he was going to be once all this was over. Alfred had laughed at the entertainment he seemed to be getting from Francis before looking to Ludwig.

"You should go next, Luddy." Alfred said, the German man making an unamused noise at the nickname. He shook his head, aiming to shoot the American personification an intimidating look heightened by the blueish light of Poland's phone. "Yeah, you're hurt too. You can go and then Poland…" Alfred said, clenching his eyes shut.

"Poland has already gone down Amerika." Ivan reminded him. "Or did you forget?" He asked with his usual smile that came across more as a smirk to Alfred. The American looked around before sighing.

"I did. Damn…this concussion's a real pain in the neck. Ha ha ha" Alfred said, snickering at his own pun. "Or head. But you go since I can use both arms pretty good still." He said, Ludwig huffing but seeing the merit in his suggestion and letting Ivan assist him in lowering down into the hole.

"Alright Amerika. You next." Ivan said, gesturing for the American to come closer to him to lower himself down. But Alfred only laughed again, wiping at some dust on his face.

"No way dude. You'd probably let me fall on purpose." Alfred said, getting to his knees anyway. Ivan only looked at him with a curious look that Alfred thought he could possibly also call hurt.

"Nyet. I would not need to." Ivan said as he grabbed onto Alfred's sleeve and tugged him over to the hole he and Ludwig had made. "I have supported many countries in my time. I can handle lowering you down, da?" He said, but the shaking of the building answered for him. Ivan seized the opportunity and essentially pushed Alfred down before quickly following before things caved in on the two of them. Ivan landed shakily before toppling onto his back.

"Ugh…." A moan was heard near him, Ivan realizing it was Alfred on the ground as well. He lifted up the phone he still had clutched in his hand toward the small opening, finding that it was quickly covered by the materials that had momentarily supported their previous, precarious safe haven. "You…pushed me. No…fair." Alfred said, clutching at his head and breathing heavily. Toris was by his side as quickly as he could with Felik's assistance, urging Alfred not to move at all and let one of the others drag him out of the way of any smaller debris that might get through the opening in what had been the floor of the meeting room. Ivan got to his feet and acted as that 'someone', ignoring Alfred's protests that he could do it himself. Once out of the way, Ivan let Alfred lay out on the floor, both of them panting from their close call.

"Now what?" Sealand asked as he looked to Finland, his voice sounding as tense as the micro-nation clearly felt. Finland only held the boy to him as comfortingly as he could in response. "Now Peter, we try and find another way out. But it's safer in here than it was up there." He said, not sure at all if what he was saying was accurate so long as it comforted the boy so that they could all keep pushing forward.

"Not me. I'm good here for a while." Alfred said, briefly raising his hand. "Then I'll be the hero and get us out of here. Just need a breather." He said, Toris telling him not to do anything at this point in case he'd hurt himself further and hadn't realized it. "How would I _not_ realize it? I'm sore all over dude." Alfred said, Toris breathing a heavy sigh at his friend not listening to him. But he had gotten Alfred to admit to a break so he considered that a small victory. When Alfred made to get up though, Toris involuntarily flinched when Ivan was so quickly and suddenly close to him, wrapping his arms around Alfred and resting him against himself to keep the American still for a little while longer. Alfred growled at that, huffing at the distinct 'hon hon hon' that he heard nearby.

"A little cuddling is never a bad thing, mon ami. It is dark in here – you could get away with so much more Russia." Francis said, the others practically able to hear the smirk in the man's voice despite the limited light.

"Nghh,..don't give 'em ideas. He'll smother me or somethin'" Alfred said, but eased up in his movements to get free. Toris bit his cheek at the reaction from Ivan who just chuckled at Alfred's suspicions, the Eastern Europeans aware of the Russian's capability to do just that and not have anyone notice until later. But Ivan seemed genuinely amused at the idea and Alfred rested his head in Ivan's lap.

"Right. We should look over every inch of zhis place. Little one…" Ludwig said, gaining Peter's attention. "You can look in that area with Finland. I vill go with France in this direction. Ve can cover more ground that way." He said, China being urged to stay still as well as Ludwig begrudgingly left Feliks and Ivan in charge of the injured.

Gradually the light of the phones spread out to the point that the five sitting on the floor couldn't see the others' faces, China grumbling about the situation. Toris apologized for not being able to do much to help with the other's injuries, but China countered with comments on the merits of Oriental medicine. "You are not falling asleep, are you Alfredka?" Ivan said with a teasing tone to his voice.

"Ngh…" was Alfred response before shifting a little, Ivan not releasing his hold on the American. "You're enjoying this hold on me a little too much." He grumbled, Ivan chuckling in response. "But I can't help but take a nap if I'm not doin' anything. Letting Ludwig do all the leading isn't right for the hero." He said, shifting around in Ivan's hold, the Russian man's grip tightening to an almost unpleasant grip. Finland and Sealand returned at that point, the Finnish personification awkwardly asking one of the others to assist in searching so that Sealand could take a break. "Ivan volunteers." Alfred suggested, earning a harsher squeeze, but his impromptu captor obliged the other man's request.

"Like, I'm glad he's helping out way over there…" Poland's voice drifted over to Alfred once Ivan and Tino had gone back to the spot that was being combed over by the Fin and Russian. "It was totally creepier with him nearby but not being able to, you know, see what he was doing." He said.

"He was tryin' to squeeze me to death is what he was doin'." Alfred grumbled, only half-hearted humor in his tone. "But I think he's doing his best too." He said with a sigh, reluctant to admit he was beginning to miss the support that Ivan had been providing.

"I was too, but Mr. Finland didn't want me crawling into any more of the tight spaces to look around." Peter's voice carried over from Alfred's other side, China chuckling at his displeasure at being made to sit with them by his caretaker. "I know he's just worried, but he's scared too and I'm big enough." He said, Alfred fumbling around with his hand for where he thought Peter's might be. A subsequent scream from the frightened nation signaled his success at finding him, Alfred laughing as he calmly told him it was just him.

"Peter?!" Tino's voice drifted over from where he and Ivan where standing, Ludwig's and France's light not too far from where they were. "Peter, what happened?!" He shouted again when Peter's mumbled response of embarrassment didn't reach him.

"He's fine, Finland, aru. Just the dark playing tricks with his imagination." China shouted back, the others hearing Finland's sigh of relief while Ivan's laugh drifted over to them. Ludwig's voice was heard arguing with France, but from where they sat on the other side of the basement, the injured group could only wait to see if the four at the wall had found something.

"Um…Mr. America?" Peter's timid voice said, startling Alfred out of his drowsy state. He groaned in reply, tightening his hold on Peter's hand. "You think the others are coming for us, right? They'll be able to find us soon?" He asked, Alfred hearing from Poland a grunt of pain as Lithuania likely elbowed him to keep his talkative friend from immediately answering.

"Sure, big guy. They're definitely lookin'" Alfred said, finding it awkward not being able to see Peter and the fact that he was flat on his back too. He decided to remedy that problem, his own fears of the dark strangely not as prominent but he considered if that was part of the concussion and whole-body bruise not making him really care at the moment.

"Mr. America, please don't move around so much. Keep still." Toris' voice called out to him as Alfred realized he hadn't been quite so quiet with his panting and groans as he struggled to sit upright. He was almost there too when he felt smaller hands on his chest, gently trying to push him back onto the ground. Sighing in defeat, he let himself drop back to the ground as he imagined the pleading look on Peter's face, wondering if Arthur had the same trouble with him when he was that small.

"Mr. America, it's okay. I…I can be the hero for now until we get to the sewers. I've got a big heart after all." He said, Alfred chuckling and holding onto the hands still pressed down on his chest. "Just like you." Peter said, Alfred realizing the little boy was doing his best to keep Alfred safe with how hard he was trying to keep his 'hero' model from getting hurt again.

"Yeah….okay, Peter." Alfred said, continuing to take deep breaths at how disoriented he felt with his injuries and being in total darkness. "'N don't worry 'bout if help's comin'. Sweden wouldn't leave you or Finland down here if he could help it. And Arthur cares too."

"That British jerk wouldn't care if…well, if a building fell on me." Peter said, China muttering about rudeness in today's children. Alfred laughed, trying to roll onto his side to reach something in his pocket. But Peter had clearly panicked that he was trying to get up again and gripped him tighter, causing Alfred to wince a little at the pressure on an area he was sure was going to be purple once he could actually see it.

"Mr. America?" Toris' voice asked, shuffling heard as the other nation tried to find his friend in the dark, Feliks also heard trying to keep his own friend still. "Mr. America, er, Alfred…is anything else the matter?" He asked, Alfred letting out a small exclamation of pain as his friend inadvertently jostled him. While not too bad, the surprise of it from their dark surroundings hadn't allowed Alfred the chance to brace for it, although he had learned that Toris was sincere in his help. "Oh, my apologies." He said, sounding incredibly concerned for his actions.

"Nah, I'm good." Alfred said, once more attempting to get into his pocket. "I just wanted to…get somethin' from my pocket." He said, pausing as he pulled out what he'd playfully 'borrowed' from Arthur earlier. The man had always been pedantic, but since it seemed he reserved most of his criticisms for Alfred, the American had thought it would be funny to swipe his favorite fountain pen while he and France had been arguing.

"Here." He said, finding Peter's hand and giving him the pen, thinking over how amazing it was that it hadn't been broken. "I swiped this earlier as a prank on Britain. Your job as the hero is to hold onto this and get it back to Arthur and apologize for me if I can't, okay?" He asked in a voice less boisterous than normal, as though letting Peter in on a big secret. "Artie ain't always a grouch to be mean – that's just how he shows he cares. Cares enough to put the effort into yellin'" He said with a chuckle as he let go of Peter's hand to let the boy figure out what he'd been given.

"Alright…I can do that." Peter said with a more confident tone, more comfortable with this task than the enormity of being the one to carry everybody to safety. "But the limey bastard still has those ugly eyebrows…" He said, a gasp coming from nearby.

"Peter! That is not nice language!" Tino's voice could be heard, Alfred laughing along with China and the two Eastern Europeans as Peter tried to defend himself to Tino. "Ooh, no matter. I suppose this is one time you can be excused for using it, but don't do it again." He said, his 'Santa Claus' persona filtering into his voice. "I came over because Ivan seems to have found a possible way out." Finland said, earning relieved sighs from the others. "But getting beyond that wall will be difficult and having another set of hands to pry open the old passage will help." He said.

"Alright. Here I come." Alfred said, grunting as he got himself in an upright sitting position. "Hero's gotta…" He started to say, only to have Lithuania's usually gentle touch feel like a punch to his bruised arm. He hissed involuntarily, the other man again apologizing for hurting his friend.

"Sorry Mr. America. I wouldn't doubt if you are at least severely bruised." Toris said, Alfred replying with unconvincing comments that all was well. "Feliks, can you help them?" He asked his close friend, China already suggesting that he go. But at Toris' pleading, Poland agreed and the two men headed back toward where the two phones were illuminating a portion of the wall. Alfred groaned at being told yet again not to help, but Peter's constant chatter helped to fill the dark as he prattled on about one of the toys Japan said he would make for him. Shortly afterward and several bangs from an overly eager Ivan had the drywall down and the old passageway pried open. With that, Alfred wasn't waiting around on his back anymore, stumbling to his feet and insisting on carrying Lithuania at least until Poland demanded to take over assisting his friend.

* * *

Kiku was speaking with the rescue personnel as they tended to those who had been injured in the scramble to get out of the crumbling building. Despite the advice otherwise, the group of nations who had volunteered to help were searching for any possible signs of where the building might have been stable enough for their friends to be safe. Blocks of material were being swiftly removed in an assembly-line fashion coordinated by Arthur, the British personification appearing anxious only to those who looked close enough beyond the typical persona portrayed by the green-eyed man.

"Belarus, that is dangerous." Ukraine shouted to her sister as Natalya climbed the rubble heap, disregarding the instructions that had been given to her. "Oh, somebody help her…" She said, making her way forward.

"No!" Gilbert shouted, fearfully wondering what Ukraine's heavier build might do if she tried to climb where her sister had already gone as she looked for openings that would indicate another more probable area for people to start digging for the others. "No, Ukraine. Ve are handling it. You stay there and not cause another natural disaster." He said, the worried woman nodding with tears in the corners of her eyes, not really processing the last part of what the Prussian had to say. Latvia and Estonia were hovering nearby as well, their concern also evident on their face, which mounted at the sight of Feliciano and Romano teetering on top of some rubble. Romano was shouting his usual annoyances, but he lunged forward when Feliciano began flailing as the rocks under his feet began to give way. He caught the back of his brother's shirt just in time to avoid his brother facing a head-over-heels tumble over some jagged debris.

"Don't do that, dumkoffs." Gilbert said, his attention refocused on the Italy brothers, assisting Romano in pulling up his crying brother back to steadier footing. "I'm not West so don't expect me to keep catching you two idiots." He grumbled in annoyance, Romano shouting about how useless Gilbert's help would be anyway.

Arthur sighed and shook his head at the display those three were making with Natalya on top of the pile and staring at the rock as though her gaze might be enough to disintegrate them. Although Arthur couldn't help the shiver he felt crawling down his spine that had him seriously considering that as a possibility. _If only that was an option_ , he thought, _then we might be done in no time_. Looking over to Canada and Sweden, he watched the two stronger personifications moving some of the materials out of the way with the other personnel, with Kiku and another two nations. Doing a double-take, he saw that the additions were Spain and Switzerland, the blonde known for being the seat for the Red Cross movement and likely pushed to assist by Lichtenstein. But Arthur wasn't going to complain about the extra help, especially since it seemed like the longer it took, the less likely they were going to find their missing friends uninjured.

Another shaking occurred, putting everyone on edge again as Feliciano and Romano gripped each other tightly. Those two were no strangers to earthquakes since they were common in their own homes, but luckily it was short-lived. "Everybody off the rubble!" Arthur shouted, motioning for Natalya to come down quickly. The long-haired blonde woman didn't argue and climbed off hastily, reaching the Italians and the Prussian personifications in time for more rubble to shift as a result of the shaking. The four of them were knocked to their knees as the last tremor from the aftershock subsided, Ukraine rushing forward and engulfing her sister in a tight hug as she worried over her. Gilbert groaned as he was enveloped in one of Feliciano's embraces with Romano, the older Italian grumbling a 'welcome to my world' to the albino man before the Prussian pushed the clingy Italians off of him.

"You think they're still alright?" Matthew asked, gaining Arthur's attention away from the sight of the other efforts the British personification would hesitantly call 'rescue' in intention only. But Arthur responded only with a pat on the other's back before turning to face him. "Chin up lad. If we give up hope, then they're as good as gone anyway." He said, Matthew biting his bottom lip in anxiety at the other man's efforts to keep optimistic. He knew that his brother would've been more upbeat about it, even if his encouragement wasn't quite appropriate. But that only spurred him to recover his brother, calling over to his polar bear to keep his nose to the ground.

"Britain-san" Kiku said as he cautiously approached the other man, one hand to his head as the dizziness made a comeback with the aftershock, although much less intense. He thought over the effect the earthquake had on him and breathed a sigh of relief that the risk of a tsunami doing more damage wasn't as high as it could be. "Is everyone alright?" He asked, the British man letting the Asian nation lean on him a little as he nodded in answer.

"Yes. We're all here." He said, looking around before taking a deep breath of his own. "But I doubt whatever cavity they might have been secured in would have held after that. Speed is vital now even more than before." He said, Kiku nodding in agreement.

* * *

The group in the sewers shuffled more than walked down the narrow passageway that had been sealed up at the time of the building's construction, China's refrain of how he knew of such an alternative escape route, echoing off their walls. Poland and Finland were on either side of Lithuania to support him as he limped along behind Ludwig and China, Peter in between the two groups so Finland could keep track of him as best as possible with them down to one phone. France and Russia were copying the position of Finland and Poland with America, Alfred complaining almost as nonstop as Peter was talking.

"So, what do you guys plan on gettin' to eat once we're out, huh?" Alfred asked, a hand on both Francis' and Ivan's shoulders despite his assurances he could hold himself up. "Hamburgers are awesome, but I could go for some fried chicken…or maybe a steak sandwich with…" Alfred was rambling, only briefly pausing between food items.

"Oh, for love of God…" Ivan said, some exasperation entering into his voice. "I thought concussion meant you might shut up for a moment. Perhaps you need more persuasion, da?" He said, France scoffing at Russia's threat.

"Mon ami, Alfred is concussed but not incapable of probably getting a few good swings at you in the dark, if he needs to." Francis said, his distinct laugh bouncing around in the dark. "But I am not in the mood to get one of those punches myself when he misses so calm down, s'il vous plaît." Francis said.

"Hey! I thought you were backing me up?" Alfred said. "But come on, Ivan, what's your go-to idea once we're out? I'm sure Natalya and your other sister will be anxious to reunite." He said, feeling Ivan give a little shake at the thought of reemerging to an eagerly awaiting Belarus.

"A nice drink, I think, would be a good idea." Ivan answered, Alfred chuckling at the predictable answer, Francis responding in kind with his own alcoholic preferences.

"Vill you three be quiet?" Germany whisper-shouted back to them, Peter's muffled 'oomphf' a sign that he had bumped into the taller nation. "Ve need to be able to listen in case there are any signs of another aftershock." He said, Lithuania sighing at the thought.

"Don't worry Mr. Lithuania." Tino said after he'd checked on Peter. "We will be getting out of here soon." He said, Peter supporting the other nation.

"Christmas coming a little early for us then?" Poland said, laughing at his own joke while Toris could only grumble fondly the other personification's name. Tino laughed too and was talking about early Christmas ideas that sparked Alfred's rampant need to keep talking.

"Let's sing Christmas carols. Oh! I know…" He said with a laugh before beginning to sing 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' to the best of his concussed abilities. Finland laughed at Alfred's slurred singing, while Francis muttered in French what the others assumed was a prayer of some sort.

"Mr. America, that is not a Christmas carol." Peter laughed along with Finland, Poland also apparently amused.

"Wha?" Alfred asked before starting all over again, Ludwig groaning as he turned around to shine their light on the group.

"He's concussed, Ludwig. This time he has an excuse." Lithuania said, trying to peer over his and Felik's shoulder to get a look at his friend. Alfred was leaning on both France and Russia as though he was drunk, merrily singing one of his patriotic songs after another.

"Ja, sure." Ludwig grumbled, not sounding convinced that it was completely the result of Alfred's concussion. _Then again_ , Ludwig thought, _Alfred had taken much more of the load on top of him than he had and had managed to survive anyway._

"Is too bad I have no snacks on me to plug that hole he calls a mouth." China said with a shake of his head as he shuffled backwards a little. "Doesn't he have anything on him to munch on?" He asked, knowing that the American almost always carried a plethora of pre-processed food on him.

"Ugh, non." Francis answered. "He was asking me at the beginning of the meeting if I had brought any of my world-famous pastries." He said, earning an eye roll from Peter while the others recognized that Francis could launch into one of his usual tangents about French cuisine. "The imbecile apparently ate all of his earlier packed snacks because of Japan's smaller portion sizes." He said, shifting his hold on Alfred's weight.

Ludwig had seen enough and had turned around, once again shining the light ahead of them. "Looks like the passage splits. Any guesses vhich vay China?" He asked, the older nation looking between them both before shrugging, grimacing as the motion pulled on the cut on his back. Ludwig sighed as he looked into both tunnels, surprised when Alfred's little concert ended abruptly with a splash. Turning around, he saw that France and Russia had apparently dropped Alfred in the ankle-deep sewer water.

"Russia, what did you do?" China called out, the tall Russian personification turning to face the others as France struggled with a difficult America. Alfred seemed able to almost get to his feet by himself but kept slipping back to the ground out of France's grip, giggling as though it was the funniest thing in the world.

"Why do you accuse me?" Ivan said, assuming a look of shock. At China's unconvinced look, the tall man only smiled. "I only do as he asked and eased up on the holding him up." He said with his smile still in place, Toris clinging more to Feliks at the look made more ominous by the limited light that cast shadows on the other personification's face. Finland sighed, before gently removing Toris' arm from around his own.

"Stay where you are Peter. I will be right back." Tino said as he walked over, also feeling the intimidation from one of Russia's stares but pushing through it since his desire to get back to the others was stronger. He had bent over to aid a struggling Francis while Ivan made to resume his hold on Alfred's right arm. As they were doing so, Peter's gasp interrupted the mingling voices as another short tremor occurred, much lighter but enough to shake loose grating that had been pulled aside between the two groups. The grating created another barrier that separated Russia, France, Finland and America from the others. Germany shined the light to see if it could penetrate through the mess of metal, but he could only glimpse Finland coming back over.

"Peter! Peter are you alright?!" Tino shouted, stretching his arm through the grating. Sealand quickly took it, the older nation tightly holding the smaller nation's hand. "Keep going. We'll….we'll try the other passage." He said, Peter sniffling a few times before China pulled him away to keep going.

"We'll send help. I promise." Peter called back as they walked further and further down the passage in search of a way out. "I promise Tino!" He yelled out once more before the light disappeared completely and left the four nations trapped in the dark.

* * *

China didn't let go of Sealand for a while, not sure if the little boy might decide to try and run back to Finland in a well-intentioned rescue effort. The little boy had been trying to quietly cry and the Asian nation did his best to comfort him, resorting to methods he'd used on his younger siblings when they were distressed. Germany remained quiet on the matter, although Poland was very much the opposite in spouting out several possibilities of what might happen now.

"Feliks…" Toris began with a sigh, the loss of Finland's support making getting down the tunnel all the more harder for him with his injured ankle. "Slow down, please." He said, hoping the other man might refrain from his detailed descriptions of what sort of designs he'd been considering for his house. Toris knew how hard his friend strived to keep his house looking sharp for all the world to see him as strong and sophisticated, but there was only so much even Lithuania could take.

"Nein, we cannot go slower." Ludwig said, pushing forward down their passage. Feliks huffed before defending his friend, the German grumbling for the other man to shut up once the Eastern European seemed to have gotten all riled up.

"Okay. It's alright Feliks." Toris said, putting a little more effort into keeping up with the militant German who'd taken on this mission and clearly intended to follow it through with his usual unwavering efforts. "Let me use the walls to try and keep upright. Can we move a little over?" He said, Feliks gradually bringing his friend closer to the wall. But as soon as Toris reached out to support himself, he found the walls to still be a little slick and he began to fall forward. Feliks sensed the problem immediately and repositioned himself to be able to catch his friend, the water splashing in response to their hurried movements. Toris let out an exclamation of pain as he involuntarily put weight onto his injured ankle, sagging into his friend's hold.

"Ludwig, we should take a quick break." Yao said, hands on Peter's shoulders as the German man sighed but agreed to a quick break for Toris to rest up some. It was clear that when Ludwig said 'quick' he intended it to be very much that, and Toris let himself lean on Feliks as he fought to regain his balance. Feliks mumbled encouragements to his friend as he supported him before resorting to the suggestion of just carrying his friend.

"Feliks, you can't carry me." Toris said with a humored laugh, patting his friend on the shoulder for his caring nature. "I'd be too much and we can't really see what we're doing anyway. I'll be fine." Toris said, Feliks still insisting.

"Zhat is not a bad idea if you can keep up." Ludwig said to the Polish man, providing fodder for Feliks to continue to try and persuade Toris. The Lithuanian man, however, continued to protest the need for his friend to be in any more uncomfortableness with having to carry him. Ludwig handed the phone to Peter, the little boy's eyes going wide at being considered responsible enough to handle their only light source. He thanked the German man as Ludwig attempted to position Toris so he could be carried by Feliks, Yao chuckling at Peter's enthusiasm. Peter shrugged off the hands on his shoulders as he got closer to shine the light on the three men better, but he turned back at something he'd seen.

"Peter, keep the light on them so Ludwig and Feliks can see what they are doing." Yao said, reaching out for the little boy again.

"No, look…" Peter said, holding the light to the side of the passage. He could see the opening of a smaller and more narrowed passage that connected and it caught his curiosity. Bending down he gasped, turning back to Yao as the others paused their efforts. "I can see sunlight through here!" Peter said, motioning for the Chinese man to take a look. Yao gingerly dropped to his knees and bent over, hissing from the cut on his back.

"Aiya…the boy is right!" He said as he continued to kneel. "If we can crawl our way through this passage we can get to the main sewer system and be able to find help." He said, the other three men coming over to investigate as well.

"I can go first. I'll fit." Peter said, taking off before Yao had the chance to hold him back. He easily managed to get to the other side, shouting that China had been right and for the others to follow him.

"Poland, you go first so you can pull Lithuania the rest of the way. I will go behind." Ludwig said, Feliks reluctantly following with that plan. With some difficulty, the others managed to get through in a relatively short amount of time, Yao being assisted by Ludwig in much the same was as Toris had been.

"Look! Look!" Peter said from a little ways down the tunnel they were now in, pointing upward to where the light was coming in. "A manhole!" He said, beginning to climb the ladder despite the cries of the others to be careful. Reaching the top, he tried to push the heavy metal off but all his efforts succeeding in only moving it infinitesimally. "Hey, there's something…ahh!" He said, sliding down a couple of steps on the ladder before gripping it tightly.

"Peter!" Yao cried out, shuffling through the higher water to get to the bottom of the ladder. But Ludwig had already beaten him to it, climbing up swiftly to reach the little boy.

"There's an animal sniffing around. I was…surprised." He said, Ludwig smirking a little in amusement at the boy's refusal to admit he'd been frightened. Once assured that Peter was secured, he attempted to lift the manhole covering with his uninjured arm. He'd only just gotten it to start sliding with his feeble grip on it when the manhole cover was slid back. He blinked in surprise at seeing his brother's face staring down at him, Canada right beside him with Feliciano and Romano behind them.

"West!" Gilbert exclaimed with a happy grin on his face, pulling the manhole cover completely off with Matthew's help. "It's about time you showed up. That polar bear was growling like crazy." He said as Ludwig lifted Peter out of the tunnel into Romano's arms. The southern Italian looked a little unsure of how to hold him, but he quickly set him on the ground, asking if the little boy was injured. Gilbert was helping his brother to climb out, Feliciano insisting on helping and aggravating Ludwig's injured shoulder as he helped to pull him back onto the street. But Ludwig bit his cheek instead of yelling harshly like he normally would, aware that his Italian friend was only concerned with getting him to safety.

China was next, slowly climbing up the ladder while Toris followed, Feliks taking the rear to make sure his friend didn't slip. Kiku and Arthur had by this time arrived with additional personnel, having heard the commotion brought about by Matthew's polar bear. Kiku helped Yao out of the tunnel, his expression showing more emotion than usual as he glanced at the injury to his brother's back. Once the two Eastern Europeans were out though, the worry returned as they admitted that they were the only ones in that tunnel. Arthur was about to begin assaulting them with questions when he felt a tug on his pant leg. Looking down he saw a frightened Peter, clutching something in his hands.

"Hello, Peter…" Arthur said, crouching to be eye level with the boy as he gently pet the boy's head. "Are you alright?" He asked, looking over the boy as Romano had done, the southern Italian now off with his brother beside Ludwig, Gilbert pretending not to be concerned with his brother's injury.

"I'm alright sir." Peter said, surprise showing up on Arthur's face at the polite tone the boy used with him. Arthur contributed it more to looking for comfort than anything else and he happily obliged the boy, pulling him into a quick hug. Breaking away, Arthur let his hands linger on Peter's shoulders as the boy sniffled a couple of times. "But Finland…" He said, starting to tear up before remembering what he wanted to do. "Oh…this is yours." He said, holding out the pen Alfred had given to him. Arthur recognized it immediately and took it from Peter's hands, unsure of why the boy would have it. Seeing the confusion on his brother's face, Peter hurried to finish. "Mr. America said that to be the hero, I needed to return it to you and, if he wasn't here, to tell you he's sorry he swiped it from you earlier today." He said, Arthur looking back to the pen and nodding.

"Well you did a wonderful job Peter. Thank you." Arthur said a little stiffly as he pocketed his favorite pen.

"I'm sorry." Peter said, wiping a tear from his face. "I'm sorry America's still stuck. There were more earthquakes and he'd already been squished…" He said, Arthur taking a deep breath before pulling the boy into another hug, picking him up and trying to comfort him. Matthew looked to Arthur, worry on his face at his twin's continued absence, along with France, Russia and Finland.

"Come now, lad. Let's find Sweden, alright?" He said, Peter nodding against Arthur's shoulder as the British personification headed back to the main rescue efforts. It was only thanks to Matthew's bear being able to growl so loudly that Matthew was able to recognize what Kumajirou was trying to convey before sprinting off in the direction he'd heard the growl. He'd shown off his own hunter skills as he nimbly made it to the bear within seconds, Gilbert not too far behind as they raced down to the street. Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Belarus had remained where they were in case it was a false alarm. Arthur swallowed thickly at how he was going to tell Sweden that finding his 'wife' now looked to be more difficult with them stuck in some forgotten sewer system.

"Thank you Britain." Peter sleepily mumbled as he was carried. Arthur was yet again surprised, rubbing the boy's back gently as he asked why he was being thanked. "Because you care enough to yell." Peter mumbled again, Arthur not sure he followed. "America said you do that sometimes only because you care. So I thought I should thank you for helping me today." He said, Arthur smiling tightly and letting his head rest on Peter's. He'd been set to give him a reply of how he does not always yell or lecture Peter, but soft breathing alerted him that Peter had fallen asleep, exhausted from the trauma of the day. Arthur shifted his hold to keep Peter steady, the boy's arms hanging limply around Arthur's neck as he continued to carry him. Spotting Sweden conversing with Switzerland, he'd attempted to calmly walk over and quietly inform the giant of a man. However, Lichtenstein's gasp as she stood beside her brother had both blondes turning to face Arthur, the other man taking a deep breath to brace for the onslaught of questions.

Sweden's eyes widened as he saw the limp form of Sealand in Britain's arms, his change in expression enough to unnerve Arthur a bit as he lumbered forward. "P-Peter?" Berwald said, reaching out for his charge in concern, swiftly taking him from Arthur's hold. The British man figured that such an occurrence must've been common, or that the boy was just incredibly tired, as Peter continued to sleep despite being moved around.

"He's fine Sweden. Just exhausted from all that has happened." Arthur said as Sweden confirmed for himself that Peter was alright, running his hand over the boy's head in a gesture Arthur wouldn't normally use in describing anything the former Viking did. But the gentle touch was enough to ease the larger man's worry, looking back up to Arthur for more answers while Lichtenstein looked over at her friend too.

"Finland?" He asked, everything else he wanted to ask conveyed in his tone. Arthur sighed and looked between Sweden and Switzerland before answering. He must've taken too long though, as Sweden's hold noticeably tightened around the sleeping micro-nation.

"They all managed to get into the sewer system before the larger aftershock knocked down more of the building." Arthur began, crossing his arms as he stood there in an attempt to appear authoritative and in control. "According to Peter and the others, another tremor knocked loose some grating that had been stored in there, or something to that effect, separating them into two groups. Finland, Russia, France and America are somewhere in the old sewer system and in complete darkness. Of those four, it appears America is the only one hurt and the other three will undoubtedly be attempting to keep moving until they find some opening to contact for help." He said, Switzerland nodding before taking off to go speak with rescue effort volunteers, his sister following behind him. Sweden nodded to Arthur, obviously not pleased with the information but not going to argue with the other man. "You should go take him to one of the medics, just in case Berwald." Arthur said in a softer tone, the larger personification nodding and giving his thanks before doing just that.

Arthur sighed as his own worry for Alfred and Francis returned with double its intensity. Having half the group they'd been searching for back with them only made it seem more difficult in his continued inability to find his missing friends. He was startled by a gentle touch to his shoulder, turning to find Matthew giving him a tight smile.

"We know where to look now. We'll find them soon, eh?" He said, Arthur returning the small smile with a nod as the two headed back to speak with Kiku about finding plans for the older sewer system. With renewed enthusiasm, the group returned to their efforts, anxious to get to the remaining nations still trapped underground.

* * *

"I do not think we will be having relief anytime soon." Ivan said as he and the three others sat in the dark, reluctant to start moving again without having any light source. "Be better to be letting others come find us." He said again, listening to how France seemed to be whispering to Alfred to be a little more compliant with the Frenchman.

"I think we should rock out Finland's plan." Alfred mumbled, sighing again as his movements were constricted by Frances. "We stay here, we're only gonna get wetter. This is an old tunnel anyway so who's gonna know to look here?" He said, his reasoning sound despite the concussion. "C'mon. Not to worry dudes, I can lead the...ooooh…." He started to say before gripping his head as the continued movement caught up with him, groaning a little and leaning into Francis. "No funny business." He warned as he sagged into Francis' hold, the Frenchman laughing at Alfred.

"What about if we go slowly?" Finland said, eager to get out at this point, shaking in his worry. "I don't want to sit here and do nothing either." He said, gaining silence as his response.

"You and Francis can go…hey, wait…" Alfred said, grabbing at his jacket pockets. The others heard a clicking-type sound before a faint orange light lit up Alfred's face as he shakily held up another pen. "F-Forgot I had this one…Can't believe it still works." He said, the orange shifting into a green light as the tiny pen stayed lit.

"You had that the whole time?!" Francis asked incredulously, although he couldn't really blame Alfred for not immediately thinking of it as a potential light source. "That won't do us any good, mon cher. It is too small." Francis said, but grabbed the pen anyway as he looked it over, the light going out. "And apparently it is broken anyway." He said with a scoff.

"Nah, it's a _pen_ , not a flashlight. Thing's not supposed to be on for long." Alfred said, fumbling for Francis' hand. "Click it again here." He said, guiding the other man's hand and turning the little light back on.

"Alright." Finland said with a smile that the others could barely see. "We can use this. It's a good thing you have such interesting little things in your pockets Mr. America." Tino said with a laugh as he reached for the pen. "But maybe you should wait with either France or Russia, Mr. America. Just until there's a definite place for us to go." Tino said, Alfred opening his mouth to argue but instead groaning again as the pain in his head became the only thing he could focus on, leaning again for support from where he'd sat up to help Francis turn the light back on. As a testament to how disoriented and uncomfortable Alfred was, he ended up leaning into Ivan's side instead of Francis, the Russian looking surprised that the other would look to him for support.

"Ah, of course I will stay with you, Alfredka." Ivan said with his cheery smile in place, Francis warily looking at the two before getting up and following after Finland as Alfred didn't argue otherwise. As the two other nations drifted farther away, Alfred unconsciously found himself snuggling up against Ivan. While the other nation was normally colder to the touch than others, Alfred was surprised when Ivan's embrace as he held Alfred to his chest again was unexpectedly warm. He sighed in comfort, the Russian personification laughing a little at the different behavior coming from Alfred toward him.

"If you are the friendlier with a concussion, perhaps I should be hitting you on the head more often, da?" Ivan said, Alfred scoffing at the other.

"You…already did today." Alfred said, hearing the other man give a soft chuckle. "Ah, so I did." Ivan said, his childish tone making Alfred chuckle himself before he began to feel himself drifting off. "Sleeping with a concussion does not end well…" He heard Ivan say, the other man giving him a little shake.

"Can't help it." Alfred said, turning his face a little into the other man's chest. "Your heartbeat is puttin' me to sleep with us cuddlin' 'n all." Alfred said with a sigh, the total darkness not helping to keep himself awake.

"Is funny. You have often said I have no heart." Ivan said, Alfred feeling the other man gently running a hand across Alfred's head as he checked on the other nation.

"Yeah…" Alfred said with a tiny laugh, "…well, not true. I know that." He said, Ivan chuckling again. "A pity the others were not here to hear you say that. They will not believe me that you admitted you were wrong about me." He said.

"Never said _that_." Alfred replied, shifting a little in Ivan's hold, the other man reclining more against the wall of the passage to accommodate Alfred. But Ivan didn't seem to mind, Alfred reaching for the man's arms to hold to his chest in an effort to make himself feel better. Ivan didn't move from that position, Alfred hearing how the Russian's heartbeat picked up a little at the gesture. He smiled into the man's chest, enjoying playing around with the other nation if he was forced to sit with him. "You alright? Your heart got faster…" He said, teasing tone lost as the concussion made it difficult to do anything quite right.

"Am surprised you are letting me hold you like this." Ivan said, Alfred hearing what he thought might be genuine wonder. "You don't normally like me, but only my sisters have ever looked to have _me_ comfort them." He said, Alfred recognizing the loneliness in the man's voice. "And I can feel your heartbeat with how you are holding my arms around you. Are you feeling worse, Alfredka? Now is not the time to pretend. It is only you and me in the dark right now." Ivan said, Alfred sighing but realizing the other man was right. Finland and France could barely be seen, the light from the pen showing them farther down the tunnel than either Alfred or Ivan had thought they would go on their own.

"I'm alright Ivan. Just…thanks for actually helping me." He said, smirking at the continued faster pace of the other man's heartbeat at Alfred being friendly with him. Not that Alfred wasn't normally friendly with everyone to the point of many other nations being suspicious about _why_ he was like that, Arthur's comments that such friendliness was just a part of the American personality only going so far as an explanation. "We have our issues, dude, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate you bein' nice every now and then. You should do it more often." Alfred said with a heavy sigh, going quiet in Ivan's arms as the two sat in silence while the light would blink on and off repeatedly as the other two nations searched.

"Mes ami, I think we might have something promising." Francis called back over to the others. "Just keep walking straight to where we are. There is nothing in ze way." He said, Ivan jostling Alfred so that he was more or less carrying him piggy-back style. Although with the limited room, his carrying was more like a half-dragging motion as Alfred attempted to not be completely reliant on Ivan. Reaching the other two nations, Tino gestured to what appeared to be a larger and wider area through a narrower passage.

"It could lead to where this system may connect with the current one. Or anything else subterranean." Francis said, sounding hopeful. "There is a metro nearby if I remember. It may lead to one of those lines. We won't know until we are in that section and if there is any doorway or passageway." He said.

"Sounds like a long shot." Alfred mumbled from where his face was positioned against Ivan's shoulder. "Should we risk it?" He asked, Francis looking over to Tino for support. When it seemed like all the Fin could do was shrug, Alfred gave a laugh. "Why not? Let's do it." He said, his words the apparent signal to the others to start squeezing their way to the other chamber through the tight opening.

"Uh oh…" Alfred said as he stopped moving, Ivan up alongside him as the other nation tried to essentially shove him along. "Wait, wait, wait…" Alfred said, his sore body protesting the tight quarters. "I need a sec'. Just a sec'" He said, breathing as heavily as he could in the narrow space made more terrifying by the lack of light. When Ivan bumped into him again, he couldn't help the shout of pain at the aggravation of more than one bruise. But he got the message and continued moving, Francis waiting on the other end to help guide him out as his legs gave out.

"Alfred?" Francis asked, dragging him away from the passage so that Ivan could get out. Alfred could only respond with continued heavy breathing as he struggled to compose himself.

"Ugh…next time, you all need to run out of the building faster." Alfred panted, his grip on Francis' arm slackening as the panic seemed to leave him. "I'm droppin' the damn thing on someone else if this happens again." He said, Francis laughing at the remark in relief that Alfred was still pushing himself to keep going.

"We first are needing to get out of here." Ivan said as he fumbled around until he found Alfred and Francis, the two lifting Alfred up into the position they'd been carrying him in before the last tremor. "Is there anything Finland?" The Russian asked, looking to the little light that was moving around the room.

"Yes!" Tino exclaimed, the others hearing the swinging of a gate. "I can't tell where it leads, but it's got to be up, right?" The Nordic country asked, hopefulness in his tone.

"That's a start." Francis said, readjusting his grip on Alfred as the North American barely shuffled his feet along on his own. "Let's get going." He said, the group following Finland's lead. Gradually, light appeared at the end of the tunnel, prompting the Fin to let out a joyful exclamation in his native tongue before racing forward. The others soon followed, looking around as they squinted to get used to the sunlight again.

"Vhere are ve?" Ivan asked as he looked around, seeing nothing but trees and other flowers. "It looks like a park." He said, gaining the Fin's attention once again.

"Oh, that's right." Tino said, looking around. "I asked Berwald to join me in looking at the flowers in this park. It's a couple of miles from the meeting place and it reminded me of…well…never mind." Tino said, a blush coming to his face as he thought of the delight on the Swede's face as he'd dragged him to the park for a special picnic the day before.

"You are certain?" Francis asked as he and Ivan dragged Alfred with them, the American groaning more frequently and asking to take a break. Spotting a park bench, the four made their way over and gently laid Alfred out on it. The American man sighed in relief as he was able to relax a little, the others taking stock of their own dirtied and bruised appearances.

"You are purple all over." Ivan said to Alfred, the other nation showing bruises on his face and hands, the others sure that there were more hidden under his clothes. Alfred smirked and turned to look up at Ivan, Francis gasping at how large the younger nation's pupils seemed to be. "Боже мой…"Ivan said for lack of anything else to say.

"I look that great, huh?" Alfred said with a tight smile. "Trust me. Feel it too." He said, turning to his side to sit upright. "But any idea how to get back to the meeting place? We could just walk but I'm not gonna be much of a conversationalist…" He said with a laugh, Francis sitting beside him to urge him to not do anything just yet. "I can handle it. America's the toughest!" He said, shakily getting back to his feet. He began to walk down the path to where he assumed the street eventually showed up. But Finland quickly walked over to him and slowly turned him around so he was facing the right direction. "Ah! That way then! Follow me!" Alfred said, taking off at a speed the others hadn't thought possible, occasionally swaying. They got several looks as they walked down the street, although there were others who looked like they'd been shaken up to.

"This is ridiculous Alfred. You need to let one of us help you." Francis said, Alfred scoffing at the need for anyone to help. Turning around, he had his mouth open to respond when Ivan picked him up and tossed him over his shoulder, striding forward without pause. Francis and Tino looked to each other in surprise before following the two nations. Alfred eventually stopped struggling as they walked, looking more like a sack of potatoes in that position.

"Where are we goin'?" Alfred asked out of the blue, startling the others out of their silence. Finland looked to Alfred in concern.

"Mr. America, we are heading back to the conference building, remember?" He asked, Alfred lifting his head to look at him. His face scrunched up as though in deep thought.

"Oh" Alfred said in a short reply, letting his gaze wander around before dropping his head again. Tino looked back over to Francis, the Frenchman giving him a tight smile at the state of their concussed friend. But the ruined building eventually came into their sights, the group giving a cheer as they saw the rescue teams there too. Finland took off at a high-speed run, waving his arms as he shouted for help. Francis watched as Tino caught several people's attention, his dirtied and tumbled appearance cluing them in to his identity and those of the others coming up the street. One of the rescue personnel said something into a radio, and within moments a large Swedish man was running towards them, followed by several other personifications. Tino launched himself into Berwald's arms, the other man catching him and taking a step back to hold him tight as the Fin started talking a mile-a-minute to the other.

"Big Brother!" Ivan heard a female voice call out, too late to hide from Natalya as he saw the girl heading toward him. He considered taking off with Alfred, but Francis must've deduced his thoughts and had taken Alfred from him in time for the Belarussian to launch herself into her big brother's arms. Ivan sighed but wrapped his arms around his sister, the embrace made more awkward as Ukraine joined in and the three fell to the ground. Francis laughed as the sisters checked over their brother, Ukraine not caring if her boss asked her not to associate with her brother since his efforts to reclaim some of her lands.

"Francis! Alfred!" A loud British voice exclaimed over the rush of other people that had shown up, the Frenchman spotting Arthur and Matthew heading their way.

"Look, mon cher." Francis said to a sagging Alfred as he held the taller nation up as best he could. Alfred looked up in the direction Francis was indicating before swaying some more and causing Francis to stumble a little as he tried to avoid falling next to the Slavic countries. Arthur jumped over the three personifications on the ground to reach Francis and Alfred, a smile on his face as he greeted them. Matthew was not too far behind, not so eager to jump over Ivan and his sisters and taking a couple of extra seconds to go around them as Ivan struggled to convince them to let him sit up.

"Are you two alright?" Arthur asked before shaking his head. "Of course you're not. Let's get you some help." He said as he and Matthew took Alfred's weight off of Francis, the other man taking a deep breath at the relief of being back safe.

"Oh mon lapin, I am touched to see you so concerned for my wellbeing." Francis said, teasing tone in place despite the genuine smile on his face as he looked between Arthur and Matthew in gratitude.

"Hey, we had to rescue ourselves." Alfred said, Arthur huffing and rolling his eyes at the two of them. He looked at Alfred's face, Matthew sympathetically wincing at the black eye his brother had already. But Arthur was more concerned with how Alfred's eyes looked. Holding up four fingers, he asked the younger nation if he could tell him how many he was holding up in front of him.

"Ugh…July?" Alfred slurred, laughing a little. "That's m' birthday. Whoa, is it my birthday and I missed it? I must'a stood too close to the fireworks again. Man…" He whined, shaking his head a little. Matthew chuckled a little despite the response clearly indicating his brother had a nasty concussion. But he and Arthur continued walking with Francis as they made their way over to a waiting Japan and Switzerland to get further help.

* * *

Alfred winced as he woke up, his body stiff as he blinked open his eyes. He found himself lying on a soft bed, the room empty except for him. He slowly sat up, breathlessly gasping at the soreness that assaulted him and taking a moment before standing up. He slowly walked over to the window, trying to get his bearings. The last thing he could remember was reading a book out on his porch, leaving him incredibly confused as to what had happened and where he was at the moment. And the ache that ran through his entire being was another question he'd like some answers to as well. But he was unsuccessful in gaining any answers by looking out the window, deciding to go explore the building he found himself to be in.

He opened the bedroom door as quietly as he could, peeking out into the hallway. Seeing no one, he cautiously made his way down the hall, glancing at the clock to see it read five in the morning. With that piece of information, he figured most people might be asleep. He brought a hand to his head as he noticed the ache, wanting to find a mirror to see what state he was in. Spotting one, he gasped as he was met with the sight of someone who looked like they'd gone a few rounds with Ivan. Alfred ran that thought over in his mind, wondering if that was what had happened. He panicked at the thought that he and Ivan were still literally butting heads, and that everything else had been some sort of dream, wondering if the Russian had kidnapped him. He took a step back, not aware that he was at the stairs, his foot sliding off the top step and resulting in him tumbling down with a crash as he caught himself halfway down the stairs.

"Seriously?" He moaned as he let himself slide down gently to the bottom of the stairs, taking a moment to lay out and let the soreness ease somewhat before getting up. He heard hurried footsteps at the commotion he'd made, clenching his eyes shut at the sound.

"Arfred-kun!" He heard Japan shout from down the hall, a British-sounding voice shouting his name from the top of the stairs. He moaned again as he rolled himself over, blinking open his eyes as the two other nations reached him, spotting Matthew at the top of the stairs as well. "Arfred-kun, did you hurt yourself again?" Kiku asked, looking over his friend. Alfred was incredibly confused now, unsure of what to expect.

"Wh-Where am I?" He managed to get out, Arthur helping him slowly sit back up. Arthur looked to Kiku worriedly before the Asian nation answered. "You are at one of my houses, Arfred-kun. You did not want to stay at a hospital and they were already busy with other injuries from the earthquake so I volunteered to take care of you." Kiku said, Alfred looking at him as though the other was crazy.

"It's true, lad. You've knocked yourself around a bit, but no worse than your usual antics." Arthur said, smiling gently at the younger nation. His fond look and the even more disheveled hair style from having rushed out of bed made Alfred seriously question what was going on.

"Okay…." He said slowly, leaning away from Arthur. "Who are you and what…" He started to say to tease the other man as he attempted to stand up, but found that it was harder to do when as sore as he was and with three other nations urging him not to do that.

"What are you talking about?" Matthew asked, looking to Arthur and Kiku as Alfred gasped again, lifting up his pant leg to see a large bruise on his side.

"What the heck is that from?" Alfred asked, forgetting about teasing the others as he discovered more bruises than the ones on his head. A black eye and a cut on a cheek were easily healed, but he started to panic at the thought of what might've occurred to get him so banged up.

"Calm down Alfred." Arthur said as he watched the American get all worked up. "Kiku just told you that there was an earthquake. You had a bit of an accident during it." Arthur said as calmly as he could, Alfred groaning as he tried to recall that bit of memory and becoming frustrated when he couldn't.

"Amnesia isn't uncommon with concussions. He did have a building collapse on him." Matthew said, Alfred letting out a sound similar to a squeak.

"A building fell on me?! That is not the same as an 'accident' you know." Alfred said, turning back to facing Arthur. "Is that why I can't remember anything about it? Is it forever? What if I start to forget other things too? Oooh…" Alfred started to ramble, bringing his hands up to run through his hair in worry. Kiku looked over to Arthur before giving the man a nod and heading back down the hall, the Canadian personification taking his place as he and Arthur got Alfred to his feet and away from the bottom of the stairs.

"What's the last thing you remember, Alfie?" Matthew asked once Alfred was sitting, Arthur getting up to follow after Kiku. Alfred could only laugh though, still finding the fact that he was apparently missing some memories to be both frightening and yet interesting at the same time. But his laughter didn't seem to ease his brother's concerns, calling Alfred's nickname again. "Ha ha ha… _Alfie_ …I do like that…" He said as he tried to calm himself.

"You can't remember?" Matthew asked, curl bouncing as he tried to get his brother to pay attention. Alfred dropped his head into his hands again with another groan of frustration as he concentrated on the last time he could remember being in an earthquake, but all he could think of was his own west coast's tendency to have them. "Oh, it's okay Alfred. Did you…I mean…do you, remember m-me, eh?" Matthew asked, Alfred looking up curiously at his brother. "I mean…you asked Arthur who he was so…I guess….well…" Matthew was saying, Alfred giving his full laugh at that.

"He's lost his mind!" Arthur said as he came back in, phone to his ear as Kiku followed him. "Yes, we've done that, but he can't remember." Arthur said.

"No, no, no…" Alfred said as he laughed so hard tears were forming at the edges of his eyes. "I mean, yes I don't remember the earthquake you're talking about. I don't even know how I got here. I am in Japan, right?" He asked, aware that personifications did sometimes have houses elsewhere in the world, vacation-oriented or otherwise.

"Yes Arfred-kun, I am Japan." Kiku said, his face scrunched up some in worry over his friend while Arthur grumbled something into the phone before tossing it away from him.

"No…" Alfred said in mock surprise. "I thought you might be a Peruvian." He said, laughing again as the other made a face almost like bewilderment at the thought of making such a comparison.

"Oh dear…" Arthur said, his eyebrows furrowed on his face more than usual. "This could be very bad." He said, Alfred rolling his eyes. "We could be in for quite a lot of turmoil if he's forgotten about being a nation. I didn't think that was even possible." He said, running his hand over Alfred's head and muttering something under his breath. That stopped Alfred's hysterical laughing as he tried to scoot away.

"Hey! Whoa!" Alfred said, bringing his hands up to cover his head and gasping at the movement. "What're ya' doin'?" He asked, Arthur scoffing.

"Hold still. I'm just trying to help." Arthur said, Alfred clenching his eyes shut as Matthew held him in place. He sighed in relief though when it seemed like some of that soreness lessened to a degree, leaning into Matthew's side as he closed his eyes.

"What was that?" Kiku asked as Matthew held onto his brother. Arthur took a deep breath before standing up to talk with the Asian nation.

" _That_ should keep him from panicking anymore." Arthur said, running a hand over his face. Kiku looked downcast though as he looked over at the North American twins as Alfred was mumbling something to his brother.

"I am deepry ashamed at my causing all this." Kiku said as he addressed Arthur. "He came to me as my guest and I was unable to be a good friend for him. This is arr my fault." He said with a sigh, Arthur patting him on the shoulder, denying the other man's involvement at all.

"Hey Japan…." Alfred said, gaining the other man's attention. "Why are we here?" He asked, the other man's shoulder's drooping at hearing the confusion at a question he thought he'd answered completely for his injured friend.

"I told you Arfred-kun…" Kiku said, voice unwavering despite his sadness, "…after the earthquake, I thought bringing you here would be a good place to take care of you." He repeated, Alfred shaking his head.

"No. I mean, why here?" Alfred said, Arthur sighing as he sat beside Alfred, brushing some hair out of his younger brother's eyes as gently as he could. "Alfred, lad, he's already told you twice now. This was the next best place other than the hospital, and his other home was damaged in the earthquake too." Arthur said as Matthew let his brother rest his head on his shoulder.

"There's the answer I was lookin' for." Alfred said in relief at having one of the others understand. "Now how'd I get here? Why aren't I home? Oh, I'll need to call…" He started to say, getting up to walk over to where Arthur had discarded the phone as he slipped out of Matthew's hold with practiced ease. But Kiku was quicker, intercepting him and urging him to sit back down as best he could without actually laying a hand on his friend.

"Arfred-kun, please. You should be resting." He said, Alfred opening his mouth to respond with the usual comment about liking to keep doing something other than being lazy – that was for other times of the day and he was a pro at that too. "I can draw a bath for you. A soak will be good for those bruises." Kiku said, hoping that would do the trick, Alfred closing his mouth at the tempting idea.

"Look lad, you've been through a bit of trouble." Arthur said, receiving a snort from Alfred at the understatement. "But even if you don't remember anything, you must know that a good soak will help. You can trust us." He said, his eyes pleading for the younger nation to understand. "You may not know me or Kiku, but you can tell Matthew is your brother. You two are twins! Just look at him." He said, Alfred's brow furrowing in confusion at why they all seemed to think he'd lost all his memories. But Matthew seemed particularly eager to get through to his brother, pulling his longer hair back and into a style resembling Alfred's without the cowlick as his distinct curl gave him away.

"Yeah…" Alfred said, an idea forming in his mind. There were some legitimate gaps in his memory that were freaking him out, but it couldn't hurt to see how the others might go about reintroducing him to himself and them. "Well, I am a little sore." He said sheepishly, shooting his best innocent look to Arthur and seeing the other fondly shake his head.

"Very werr. I will go do that now and you can rest up." Japan said, leaving the room with a short bow. Alfred sighed as he saw the other slip back into formal habits around him.

"Why'd he bow?" He mumbled more to himself, jumping a little as Matthew seemed to magically appear next to him when he was sure the other had still been on the couch.

"He's Japan, Alfred. That's his custom over here. You know that, you really do." Matthew said, sounding as though he was begging for his brother to agree with him. Alfred felt himself crumble at the lost look on Matthew's face.

"Of course I do." He said with a wide smile. "I was just…" He started to say but Arthur was already dragging him back to the couch, Alfred wanting to argue but realizing once he was sitting that he was feeling less exhausted.

"Thanks British dude." He said, letting his head lean back onto the top of the couch. "Why're you here if Japan said I was his guest and Mattie's my brother?" He asked, hearing his brother making a cheerful noise at Alfred remembering the nickname he called him. Alfred knew it was a little mean, but there was a real reason for his question to try and fill those memory gaps in addition to his curiosity over Arthur's answer.

"Well, I couldn't just leave you on your own. It wouldn't be proper." Arthur said, Alfred feeling disappointed that was all the answer the other man was going to give. It seemed the other wasn't about to go into their complicated history as brothers too soon, but Alfred supposed that was going to have to be enough for now. Kiku had returned to let Alfred know he could take a bath now, Arthur insisting on walking with him down the hall while Matthew and Kiku announced they'd be making breakfast for whenever Alfred was ready. Getting to the room, Arthur shut the door to give Alfred some privacy, telling him to shout if he needed any help.

Alfred ended up getting his undershirt he'd been sleeping in only halfway off before the twisting and maneuvering were too difficult. "Um…hello?" He called out, unlocking the bathroom door. Instantly Arthur was there, Alfred blushing at the question he was about to ask as he knew the other would probably be offended. But knowing he might get Matthew made him push forward, Arthur continuing to look curiously at him.

"I…um…I need some help with getting undressed." He mumbled, looking down to avoid Arthur's face. He heard the other man utter a surprised 'oh' and he grimaced. "Yeah…the bruises are just in some bad spots, you know….being pretty much _everywhere_ and all." He said with a short laugh. "I…could you…" He started to ask, hoping the British man would just go get his twin to help him with this embarrassing task.

"Oh, yes." Arthur said, seeming to snap out of his surprise. "Let's head back in there. Don't want the water to get too cold." He said, Alfred now the surprised one as Arthur walked inside the bathroom and shut the door.

"B-But, wouldn't it be better for maybe Matthew to…" Alfred stammered out, blush completely covering his face. Sure, he and Arthur were a lot closer again now but it was still embarrassing.

"Nonsense, Alfred. I'm the one who raised you." Arthur said as he helped Alfred take off his undershirt, the taller nation gasping as he had to twist a little to get it off. "There's nothing wrong asking for my help when you need it. I…I used to be your caretaker." He said, Alfred looking intently at the other man to see if he'd continue with his brief statements about their past, wondering if he'd admit that they were brothers too although with a more strained relationship. But Arthur's far-away look vanished quickly as he returned to the task of undressing Alfred, slipping off the sweatpants he'd had on despite Alfred's protests that he might be able to do _that_ portion on his own. "Calm down Alfred. Who do you think dressed you in the first place?" He asked before wincing at how that sounded to him as he talked with an amnesic Alfred. "Oh, sorry, love. Bad choice of words." He said, Alfred answering that it was no problem.

"But, I really, _really_ think I can take my underwear off on my own thanks." He said, Arthur laughing but leaving Alfred to handle that on his own. With difficulty, Alfred managed to get completely undressed and into the tub, letting the water relaxing his aching body. He felt himself falling asleep when he heard bangs on the door and his name being urgently called. He belatedly realized he must've missed the other attempts to get him to answer as the door suddenly burst open, Alfred scrambling for the hand towel closest to him to cover himself.

"Alfred, why didn't you answer me lad?!" Arthur nearly shouted to him as he saw the other sitting up in the tub. "For all I knew, you could've drowned. I thought you were out ages ago." He said, Alfred sheepishly smiling at Arthur.

"I…I think I fell asleep." He admitted, the other man sighing but getting Alfred another towel. He opened it and stood next to the tub as he held it out, waiting for Alfred to get out. Alfred raised an eyebrow at the move, reminiscent of when Arthur would do that for him as a small child. "Um…okay." He said, slowly standing out of the water and into the awaiting towel, holding the smaller hand towel in place as Arthur laughed at him.

"Feeling any better?" Arthur asked, Alfred nodding a little as the other man guided him to another room. Alfred realized it must've been the one Kiku had been using, the other man's traditional bedroll laid out with Alfred's clothes on it. "Do you need me to help put these on?" Arthur asked, Alfred sighing as he figured he probably would. But instead he answered with a 'no' that sounded more like a question even to himself. "I've told you, Alfred. It's alright to ask." Arthur said as Alfred sat on the floor, glaring at the pile of clothes. Arthur quickly dressed Alfred, the American blushing like mad when he needed Arthur's help to keep upright as he put his underwear on, insisting that the British man hold up the towel as a pseudo-barrier. Arthur complied, but dropped it as soon as he was confident Alfred was decent, helping him to get into his pants. A knock on the door had them pausing in their efforts, Matthew asking if everything was alright and that there was a plate of food waiting for Alfred. Arthur answered before Alfred could, the taller nation sighing in frustration as it would be clear now to his twin and his friend that he'd needed Arthur to help get dressed. But when he sat down to eat, neither nation said a word, Alfred grateful that Kiku instead talked about what had happened most recently. Going backward from what he was told, Alfred nearly chocked on his toast when he realized he was missing a few months' worth of events. Matthew's patted his back to help his brother, Alfred thanking him once he could breathe properly.

"So, uh, what about anybody else then?" Alfred asked as he sipped his coffee. "Anybody else injured in the earthquake?" He asked as he looked to the others. "Were any of you guys hurt?" He said in concern, wishing he could remember those details that Kiku had glossed over as he tried to make polite conversation.

"No. We're fine." Matthew said, Alfred breathing out a sigh of relief. The conversation then veered toward more detailed accounts of what had happened based on what the others were told.

"Hey, can I call one of the other guys that got trapped with me? Maybe they can help jog something." He said, finishing up the food on his plate and standing slowly to bring it over to the sink. But Kiku grabbed it from him and hurried over to do that for him, Arthur suggesting that Alfred call in a little while one of the others.

The three of them returned to the living room area, Arthur insisting that they not watch a scary movie and putting on a documentary he'd found as they skimmed through the channels. Alfred groaned but shut up once he learned it was a nature documentary about eagles. His drowsiness caught up with him and he let himself lean into Matthew's side as he made himself comfortable.

"Oh, I think he's asleep, eh?" Matthew said, the last thing Alfred heard as sleep overtook him. Waking a few hours later back in bed left him disoriented again before he realized Matthew had probably carried him back upstairs. He repeated his actions from the morning, minus the tumble down the stairs, to find Kiku sitting at the table in the kitchen.

"Arfred-kun, I didn't know you were awake yet." Kiku said as he put down the papers he was looking at before, getting up to assist the other man in getting a drink. "How are you?" He asked, Alfred leaning on the counter as he took large gulps from his drink.

"Sore. Frustrated." Alfred said, wiping his mouth of excess water. "I can't remember anything about what you three are talking about." He said, Kiku shooting him a sympathetic look, harder for others to distinguish but not so much for Alfred.

"I am truly sorry about that my friend." Kiku said, Alfred nodding as he knew the Asian man would keep apologizing no matter how many times he'd been verbally forgiven. "Did you still want to call one of the other nations? Or would you prefer to wait until you are more awake?" He asked, but Alfred nodded again as he pushed himself away from the counter.

"Yeah. Now's good." Alfred said with a small laugh. "Otherwise I might fall asleep again. I have a concussion, right?" He checked with the other man, receiving another ashamed look as Kiku nodded, handing his phone over to Alfred. The taller nation was about to ask what happened to his phone before realizing he probably lost it in the earthquake. Kiku left, mumbling a quick remark about giving Alfred some privacy as he made his call. Alfred sighed, scrolling through the list of names until he remembered one he'd been told had been trapped with him. With a heavy sigh, he called the number and waited for the other man to pick up.

"Bonjour Japan, what can I do for you today?" Francis answered, Alfred chuckling at the happy tone in the other man's voice.

"Sorry dude, not Japan." Alfred answered, hearing Francis' surprise. "I'm borrowin' his phon 'cuz I apparently lost mine recently." He said, Francis laughing.

"You and your American sense of humor. What gives me the pleasure of talking so soon with you, mon ami? I thought you'd still be recovering…" Francis said, Alfred walking over to sit down at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, well, that's why I'm calling." He said with a sigh. "Lost my memory, man. Can't remember anything 'bout that earthquake but boy does my body remember. Got bruises on bruises and _Arthur_ had to dress me." He said, biting his lip as he let that comment slip. He knew for sure Francis would run with that information for a while.

"What?!" Francis said, Alfred pulling the phone away from his ear as the other man yelled into the phone. "Mon dieu, you cannot recall anything?" He asked, Alfred quickly jumping back into controlling the conversation before Francis could say anything else.

"Nope. Nada. But I thought maybe you could help fill me in. The others said you were trapped too, weren't you?" He asked, Francis continuing to mutter in French on his side of the conversation, Alfred forced to wait until the other realized he needed to switch back over to English if he wanted to get anything else from Alfred.

Francis cleared his throat before answering. "You want _moi_ to tell you all about yourself?" Francis asked, Alfred hearing the smirk in the other man's voice and hesitant to get himself in too deep with the other nation. "Yeah, well, the others have filled me in somewhat but the more information, the closer I get to what really happened. So, how about you just start with that earthquake? You can walk me through that." He said, groaning at the predictable innuendo about Francis being able to 'do more than walk' with Alfred before laughing. "Please just tell me about the earthquake. Or do I need to call one of the others that was supposed to have been with me?" He asked, Francis' laughing tapering off as he began to describe everything that had happened from pulling Alfred from beneath the rubble to being carted off to one of the medical units before going with Kiku, Arthur and Matthew back to Kiku's house. "Why didn't you come along?" He asked in his childish curiosity, hearing Francis laugh again.

"Oh, mon ami, I know you want me around you at all times, but there were other things I needed to get to back home. That earthquake was several days ago and I promised Angleterre I would report to his boss what had happened and why he was still in Japan." Francis said, Alfred only able to give out a 'huh' in response. "Oui. Arthur and Mathieu were very worried about us. But we are resilient, no?" Francis said. "Even Ivan was gentle with you when you were being particularly difficult. Although, he did drop you when you were singing your version of Angleterre's anthem. 'My Country 'Tis Of Thee' always does make Arthur red – although perhaps there was more blushing as he dressed, or should I say, _undressed_ you? Hon hon hon…" Francis said, his helpfulness coming to an end.

"Goodbye Francis…" Alfred said in a tired tone, the Frenchman begging for more details as Alfred hung up, shaking his head at the other personification's typical behavior. He left the phone on the table and walked back upstairs, yawning as he went. He shuffled down the hallway, wondering why it was so dark out already when a thunder boom off in the distance answered his question. He closed his eyes as he walked, missing his door and ending up at the end of the hall before realizing his mistake. He turned around to head back when he was startled by Matthew quickly leaving his room and nearly bumping into him.

"Oh good, you're awake." Matthew said, checking his watch as though he had been timing Alfred's nap. But the American realized that the others probably had and that today was the first day he'd been aware of what was going on. "You want to come inside? I know you're not very fond of thunderstorms and I think Arthur's asleep right now." He said, nervously holding the door open for his brother to come inside. Alfred smiled at his brother's gesture, nodding and walking over to the bed before plopping unceremoniously down on it. Matthew chuckled as he walked over to his brother, rearranging him on the bed before snuggling up next to him. "I…I could tell you a little about you, or me. Or you _and_ me. B-But only if you want, eh?" Matthew stuttered out. "Arthur says the amnesia might only be temporary, but I bet you're scared, huh?" He asked, Alfred making an indignant noise at being called scared. "No, I know you Alfie. You don't like not being able to have control over things. But I can help." Matthew said, beginning to tell all about their days as colonies together and moving quickly up to the present day, Alfred smiling as his brother talked about the two of them together. He was drifting off again as Matthew talked, but Arthur's knock on the door woke him up again.

"Matthew, have you seen your brother anywhere? I overslept through the alarm to wake him up and…oh, there you are Alfred." Arthur said as he opened the door fully. "Come downstairs you two. I'll make you something to eat." He said, Matthew and Alfred sharing mutual looks of concern. But Kiku had already beaten Arthur to it and the evening was uneventful. Before Alfred even realized it, they were all heading to bed, the American complaining when Arthur automatically helped him into his pajamas. "Um…Arthur…" Alfred called out, the British personification turning around. "Thanks. For everything." Alfred said, a blush on his face that seemed to spread to Arthur's as the green-eyed man smiled and nodded before turning off the lights and shutting the door.

The next few days were similarly spent, Alfred immensely pleased that his concussion seemed to be going away quickly and the bruises healing up nicely with the help of the three other personifications. Kiku had been more difficult to talk with, the man's guilt at his friend's injuries making things awkward for Alfred. But, as usual, Alfred decided to do most of the talking and had convinced him to play some video games with him. Kiku had been more open about talking with him, a conversation like the one Matthew had with him carrying out without any prompting. When the Asian man apologized later for having to run out for a little while to speak with his boss about the earthquake, Arthur took over as babysitter it seemed. But Alfred quickly grew bored, wandering outside and sitting down under one of his friend's trees. Arthur had run out, his eyes wide as he scanned the area before visibly relaxing as Alfred waved him over to sit next to him. When it seemed like the British man was content to sit in silence, Alfred felt obligated to fill it with his own voice.

"I'm remembering." He said, the other man's head whipping around in surprise to stare at Alfred. "Not much, but it's clearer and I bet it'll all be there once the concussion's all taken care of. Hard head helps I guess." He said, laughing a little as Arthur continued to look at him. "What? Did you want me to never remember?" He asked jokingly, Arthur looking down.

"Of course not. This is wonderful news." Arthur said, stiff upper lip in place. "Matthew and Kiku too?" He asked, Alfred nodding at the question. "They'll be pleased. You're healing up nicely Alfred."

"Helps that they talked to me. I mean, I appreciate all the help Arthur, especially at the beginning when…well, I apologize for whatever Francis is gonna say to you when you get back." He said, the British man cocking an eyebrow. "Sorry man, I was venting about being frustrated I had to rely on help to even get dressed and I'm sure he got the wrong idea." He said, Arthur sighing at the awaiting taunts. "Anyway, is there something you'd like for me to not remember? I get that telling me would sorta defeat the purpose of wanting to keep me in the dark, but maybe if we talked about it…." He said, trailing off in a hopeful tone.

"No, Alfred. I don't want you to never recover your memory. I just….I just was enjoying you letting me be around like this again." He said, looking away. "We spend time together and you've helped me out even when I thought I would prefer if you didn't. But you're always so confident that you can do everything on your own and so much better, and have told me several times you don't need me 'hangin' around'." Arthur said, mocking Alfred's accent and earning a laugh from the other. "I guess I'm…reluctant…to see you want to leave me behind as soon as you're able." He said with a tight smile.

"I don't do that." Alfred said, head cocked to the side as he thought about what the other had said. Arthur laughed at the look on the other's face before getting up and reminding Alfred to come inside to bed soon. Alfred followed Arthur in shortly, the smell of his brother's pancakes he'd made for their dinner still wafting through the house as he fell asleep.

The next morning, Alfred laid in bed after waking as he thought of the easiest way to tell the others he recalled everything, including the earthquake. He sighed as he recalled how cozy he'd been with Ivan, but that didn't need to be discussed unless absolutely necessary. A knock on his door pulled him from his thoughts as Matthew poked his head inside.

"Oh, you're up. I was worried you'd had some sort of issue or something." He said as Alfred sat up. "I'll meet you downstairs then, eh?" He said, beginning to back away to shut the door.

"Mattie?" Alfred called out, his brother opening the door some more with a hesitant look on his face, Alfred no longer seeing the interest he'd had in letting the assumption hang over the others that all his memories were gone. He stood up and gestured for his brother to come over to him, pulling Matthew into a tight hug. "You're the best twin brother I've got, you know that?" He asked, Matthew laughing with his usual reply that he was Alfred's only twin brother before gasping as he realized his brother had greeted him with his usual joke. Seeing the shock on the other's face, Alfred sheepishly smiled. "I remember, Mattie. You and Arthur and Kiku too. I did earlier too, I just…" He said, but Matthew pulled him in for another hug as he shouted for Arthur. Alfred heard footsteps racing toward them, a breathless and panicked Arthur barely stopping in time in the doorway. Matthew practically bounced up and down as he looked to Alfred with a happy smile on his face.

"He remembers Arthur. He remembers everybody. Everything." He said, hugging his brother once more before taking off to go tell Kiku, a promise of making a special breakfast being called out as he hurried down the stairs. Arthur continued to stand where he was as he looked to Alfred, the other nervously laughing at finding himself unable to come up with anything to say. But Arthur gave Alfred a small smile and pat on the shoulder before announcing that this was great news and that they could all return home sooner than they'd thought.

Alfred attempted to reply but decided to simply glomp onto Arthur, the other sputtering to be released immediately while Alfred chuckled as he tightened his hold to make it more difficult for the other man to move away. His little experiment may not have been as interesting as it could have been if Arthur had been more talkative, but he found that this trip was certainly one he wouldn't forget for a while. He continued to laugh as Kiku and Matthew returned, witnessing the wrestling match between Alfred and Arthur with some amusement. Arthur continued to shout to Alfred, throwing insults to the American man, but that wasn't so unusual. It was when Arthur accidentally kneed Alfred on one of his remaining bruises that had the two of them falling back onto the bed, the British man untangling himself to shout at the American. Kiku watched the two of them returning to their usual antics, the only thing shaken up in their routine was the slightly restricted movements still for his American friend. But not even having the earth pulled out from under them had any bearing on America's and many other personifications' ability to work together to pick themselves up again.


End file.
